An Alternate Reality
by Watapon12
Summary: What if everything was reversed? Instead of Kudo Shinichi shrinking and turning into Edogawa Conan, Mouri Ran took his place and became their victim? But the problem does not end there. What will happen next?
1. File 1

**Author's Note:**

**Hello and thank you for visiting my second Detective Conan fanfiction! I do not know if there is already a fic that is similar to this but this idea just suddenly popped in my head and I decided I should put it into writing. So, I hope you will enjoy this!**

**This fic is founded in the first episode after Shinichi solved the roller coaster mystery case.**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own Detective Conan; the genius Gosho Aoyama does.**

**Happy reading everyone!**

**FILE 1**

"Tadaima!"

Ran exclaimed as she finally arrived in the Mouri Detective Agency after spending the whole day in the Tropical Land with her childhood friend and the famous high school detective Kudo Shinichi.

"Oh! Your back, Ran!" Kogorou exclaimed cheerily and drunkenly in his usual raspy voice as he raised the can of beer he was currently drinking.

"Really! How can you make this mess, Otousan?" said Ran in annoyance as she looked around the office. It was quite exaggeratedly messy. His table was filled with empty cans, crumpled papers, used chopsticks, an empty soba box and different kinds of plastic wrappers. The floor was scattered all over of it, too.

Without any choice, she held up a trash bag and started cleaning the mess on the table. "This is the reason why mom left you and also why you have no work!" she nagged angrily.

"I only select jobs that are worth doing!" he snapped back. "Also, what happened to that young so-called detective friend of yours? Didn't you go out together?" he said, changing the subject.

"Up until leaving the amusement park we were still together. But at the end…" she trailed off as she remembered what happened earlier.

"_Sorry, Ran, can you start going home without me?" Shinichi said to Ran while starting to jog away and after he finished, he started a full run, not even caring that she was crying or did not even bothered comforting her. All he cared at the moment was to pursue the man in black that he had ride together in the mystery roller coaster._

"_Eh? Wait!" Ran exclaimed as she started to follow Shinichi but she stopped abruptly as her left shoe lace broke off. Her heart stopped as her eyes widened in recognition. She watched Shinichi ran away. Away from her. She involuntarily stretched out her hand towards him and motioned to grab his jacket, thinking that she could stop him. That he would not leave her behind and let her bottle in her worry._

"_He's leaving…" She continued to watch him ran away with teary eyes, not able to do anything to stop him. "I don't know why… but I'm getting a strange premonition that I will never see Shinichi again. A very bad feeling."_

"I wonder what Shinichi is doing right now…" she murmured, eyebrows creased in worry.

She reached for the phone and dialed for the Kudo's household number. She waited but she just reached his machine after a few rings.

"That's strange. Why isn't he home yet?" she wondered in worry as she looked at the receiver, half-expecting it to answer her.

"Relax. He probably went out to have dinner with his novelist father."

Ran placed back the receiver to the cradle. "Shinichi's parents moved to America three years ago! He is living by himself now."

"Oh? Really?" he said, dumbfounded.

"Something must have happened after he left! I'm going to Shinichi's house!" she decided as she ran out of the office.

"Oi! What about my dinner!" Kogorou exclaimed but Ran was already long gone.

She was running her way to his house. She was really worried. After that premonition when they separated, how can she stay in her house and relax while waiting for him? How can she do that? Who knows what kind of people he tailed?

She turned at a corner but she abruptly stopped as she saw two suspicious people observing a mansion. She quickly hid herself at the corner where she came from and decided to observe the two men in black who had their backs at her.

"So, Aniki, can I burn this mansion now? My fingers are already tingling in excitement," said the shorter man of the two, he had a hat and shades on.

Ran gasped in surprise, not believing her ears. She was actually witnessing a crime that was about to happen.

"Aa, you are now free to do so," replied the other man, his mouth curved in a smirk. He, also, had a hat on and his long silver hair was flowing freely on his back, his bangs hiding his left eye, only leaving his right eye to show how cold they looked.

"Yosh!"

"Hold it right there!"

The two men in black swiftly turned their heads as they heard another voice aside from their own. The uninvited third party was standing only a few feet away from them, glaring with pure hatred. Ran was already on her fighting pose. She didn't even think twice in stopping them. She would never forgive herself if she would just run away and left the place like nothing happened. Her glare dropped for a moment when she recognized the two men.

'Hey, didn't I ride the roller coaster together with them earlier?' she thought.

Both men were amused. This girl has some guts, they thought.

Vodka turned to his partner with slight anxiety. "Aniki."

"Relax. She's just a girl. If she heard everything, we can easily dispose her," replied Gin, his voice full of venom and his blue eyes filled with thirst of blood.

Ran slightly shivered to that statement. Just what kind of aura is this guy emitting? Seeing Vodka reaching for his pocket with her well-trained eyes, she believed these two men might be armed since they looked quite dangerous. She quickly made her move and before they knew it, Ran was already in front of them and she kicked Vodka's hand. A thud of something metal echoed as the gun was released from his hold and fell right to the asphalt.

They even did not had the chance to react: Ran took advantage of Vodka's slightly bent position as he hissed in pain for his poor right hand. She made a heavy chop on his neck which weakened him instantly, then made a strong kick on his stomach, which made him choke in pain and a sideways kick on the chubby man's side which made him fall. She instantly turned to his surprised companion and made a hard kick directly on his features, then, she threw several punches on his stomach and to end it, she flipped in the air and used her heel for her final blow at the back of his neck which made him crash down on the cold night asphalt.

Satisfied that the two men were only half-conscious and fully beaten up, she made her way for the pay phone booth only a few feet away from her. She quickly took and placed the receiver on her ear and dialed a number.

Ring… Ring… Ring…

The tension was building up in her. She tapped her foot impatiently as her features showed complete anxiety.

Ring… Ring…

"Onegai, Otousan. Please pick up the phone already."

"Hai, Mouri Detective Agency."

Gratitude filled her when her father finally answered the phone. True, he sounded quite drunk but she did not care! She was about to reply when something hard and metal hit her behind the head violently. Gin was standing right behind her; he held a metal pipe in his right hand while his other hand was holding his stomach. A triumphant grin was evident on his face as his visible eye filled with lust of violence as he watched her slowly dropped the receiver and crashed on the floor, barely conscious.

Gin took the receiver and placed it on his ear.

"Moshi, moshi? Oi, who's this? What happened? I heard something loud! Oi! Are you alright?! Answer me! Oi!"

Gin smirked and hung up the phone. "Guess there's nothing to worry about."

Vodka limply approached him as he looked at the girl on the floor with hatred. He was, also, touching his stomach in pain. "This girl is quite troublesome."

"Aa," agreed Gin. "But how stupid of her to think that we were unable to stand and move anymore after what she did." He smirked as he looked down on her with hunger. "Did she really think that we are that vulnerable? People like us will not easily die."

Vodka pointed his gun at her. "This girl had already caused enough trouble. We should kill her."

"Wait." Gin held the gun's barrel to stop Vodka and the latter gave him a questioning gaze. "Someone might hear if we shoot."

"What are you planning to do with this girl, Aniki?"

"Just follow my league," replied Gin with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

They opened the mansion's gate and door. Then, carried Ran's body inside the mansion and placed her in the living room quite carelessly, her head hit the concrete quite hard which she earned a painful hiss.

"What now, Aniki?"

Gin retrieved a box from under his coat and opened it, revealing a number of capsules and a cylindrical metal object which was filled with water. "We use this. This is a new poison that the Organization developed. After what she did, I want her to suffer by taking this lethal poison. This was made for a slow and nice death. Once the poison is consumed, there is no way this would be detected in the body. This has not been tested to human beings yet so, let's test this to her."

Vodka let out a maniac smile and nodded in agreement.

Gin forced the capsule in her mouth and let her drink some water so that the capsule would enter her body.

"As she slowly struggle for life, flames would be dancing around her mercilessly, leaving her nothing but to wait for her long awaited death," Gin remarked.

Vodka chuckled. "That's a good one, Aniki! I would love to see that!"

"Unfortunately, we can't. We don't have time to waste. Let's do the deed and leave immediately."

Both men hurriedly went out the mansion to do their crime while Ran, on the other hand, had already felt the first effects of the poison. To start, she gasped as she felt a spasm of pain in her chest. Another pain struck her chest and she let out a pained moan. She felt her whole body getting hot and let out another gasp as the painful pounding in her chest continued.

The fire had already started and it was quickly devouring the mansion. She was catching her breath and the beads of sweat that was forming on her forehead were rolling down her cheeks. She heard screeching of tires, a sign that the two culprits had already left. She felt her heart constrict and everything just went black.

XXX

Kudo Shinichi was leisurely walking back to his house with both hands at the back of his head and a disappointed expression was painted all over his features.

"Taku. If they did not have a car, I would have confronted the both of them easily," Shinichi murmured in annoyance as he remembered what had happened after he tailed the other man in black. He had witnessed a black-mailing transaction. The two men were black-mailing a business man to give them a million dollars in exchange for a video that they had taken of the illegal smuggling that their business had done.

He was just about to confront them when they went away in their car.

He sighed. Well, at least he felt much better after he had eaten and satisfied his hunger. He turned at a corner and he let out a startled gasp at the horrible scene in front of him.

A huge fire was devouring a mansion quite swiftly, leaving an ugly cloud of black smoke to the peaceful night sky. He recognized the mansion. The owner of it was the person he had seen that was being black-mailed earlier. A connection immediately hit him.

"Could it be…?" Not wasting any more time, he made a run for the pay phone booth and dialed the number of the fire station.

Inside the mansion, mainly in the living room, a small girl, probably a primary school student slowly opened her eyes as she slowly made consciousness. She felt pain at the back of her head which she immediately held for comfort. She slowly sat up, using her free hand for support. Confused since she felt her whole body so weak, also, she felt her surroundings quite warm.

Her eyes were now fully open and her mind was in alert as she realized the place where she was being consumed by fire. Her eyes widened as she felt pure fear building up within her.

I have to get out of here! Her mind shouted at her. She stood up and coughed at the smoke that was forming in mid-air. She frantically searched for the door. There! She saw it! She ran for it and desperately opened the door, thankful for finding it open and the fire had not yet devoured it. She went out the door, leaving her jacket behind obliviously, and the gates and without even scanning the place for help, she just ran straight to her north, not noticing the teen that was inside the pay phone booth who was reporting the current incident to the fire department.

Her quick and small footsteps echoed as she ran. She did not know where but she just wanted to run away, away from that burning mansion, from that nightmare. She finally stopped after a few minutes of running. She leaned on the wall; her breath was picking up on her as her heart raced in fear. Her pupils dilated as her mind was struggling to think.

Where am I? She wondered as she looked around. The night was quiet and still. Stores were surrounding her from either side and the road was empty. Not a car or even a soul was seen or heard aside from her and her quick breathing.

She did not recognize the place. And it hit her. She not only did not recognize the place.

She even did not know who she was.

_The next file will be delivered soon!_

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for reading! So, what do you think? Please send me your comments, suggestions, feedbacks, and reactions! I am very eager to hear from you! 'Til next time!**

**October 4, 2012**


	2. File 2

**Author's Note:**

**Before I proceed with the story, I just want to extend my gratitude! Thank you for the warm welcome during the first publication of this fic! Everyone was very kind!**

**Now I give you the second chapter!**

**Happy reading everyone!**

**FILE 2**

The aggressive fire that was devouring the mansion was slowly put off as swift water from three different hoses extinguished it. There were three fire trucks and two police cars parked idly outside the mansion, along with Kudo Shinichi and Inspector Megure as the fire fighters were busy doing their job in putting out the fire.

"So, Kudo-kun, you're saying that this fire was actually caused by someone?" inquired Inspector Megure.

"Aa. I'm pretty sure about it. Whatever trick they may have used to start the fire to make it look like an accident, you will see through it if you're going to investigate it thoroughly," answered Shinichi while looking at the mansion intently.

"Oi, oi, Kudo-kun, from where are you basing that theory?"

"Let's just say I happened to be in a place where I wasn't supposed to be," came his vague answer.

The Inspector turned to him hopefully. "Kudo-kun, don't tell me you've seen the person responsible doing the deed?"

"No, but how I wish I did so I have stopped and captured them. On the contrary, Megure-keibu, I have an idea who these people might be. I just need to find conclusive evidence so you can have the authority to find and capture them," he smiled.

Inspector Megure brightened to that. "Oh! That's great, Kudo-kun! But-" his expression suddenly changed – his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Should you tell me the basis of your theory first?"

Shinichi smiled nervously as he held up both hands. "Ma, ma, calm down. I'll tell everything to you."

"Alright, then. Let's discuss it in the car," Inspector Megure said as he headed to the police car and Shinichi followed close behind. He took another glance at the mansion and he suddenly stopped as something caught his eye. The door that led to the living room was open and he saw an all too familiar blue jacket lying on the floor and was only half-burned. He swore he felt his heart stop for a moment there as his eyes widened in recognition and realization.

'T-that's Ran's jacket! Why would it be there? Don't tell me…'

He cursed under his breath and dashed for the north since the south was a dead end, leaving a bewildered Megure behind.

He was running in his top speed with eyebrows creased and gritted teeth. His eyes showed pure worry as he was frantically looking around him. He had deduced what exactly had happened earlier, but instead of the drug and Ran shrinking back into a seven year old child, he deduced they used ammonia on her so she would lose consciousness.

'Seeing the jacket inside, she must had woken up and escaped the mansion,' he continued. 'I did not see her since there was that time when I was inside the pay phone booth when she escaped. She probably did not see me since she was scared and in a hurry to flee from the mansion.

'Ran, you idiot! You should've been worried since I am not a kid anymore and I can handle myself! Now, look where you have gotten yourself into, stupid!'

He halted abruptly as he came across an intersection. He panted as he looked at both intersections from left to right. He let out another curse.

'Which way? Though she couldn't be that far away considering the fact that she is injured, with this intersection, I would be having a hard time finding her. Which way did she go?!'

His heart was pounding in anxiety as his mind was running on what he should do. He walked for the intersection to his right when he saw a fabric lace on the floor. He picked it up and brought it closer to his eyes to have a better look. His eyes widened as he immediately recognized it was Ran's shoe lace and he advanced to that intersection.

'She should be around here but there are a lot of intersections and alleys on this road.' He stopped and started shouting, "RAN! Where are you?!"

'She should get to hear me since she should be near.' He started walking slowly, while keenly looking around him and the intersections, hoping to see a sign of Ran. "If you hear my voice, answer back! Don't be afraid, Ran! It's me! Shinichi!"

He went on and passed by several alleys but with no luck. He was not giving up yet. Ran needed him. What's the use of his deductive skills if he cannot save someone dear to him? He passed by another alley when he stopped himself and made a step back. He glanced back at the alley. At first glance, it was just a typical alley just like the others he already had passed by. However, something was out of place there if one would just look closely. Shinichi entered the alley and crouched at midway. There was something on the ground that did not miss his keen and hawk-like eyes. He lowered his head and narrowed his eyes to take a better look at it. He decided to feel it with his finger and took it close to his eyes. His eyes widened as he realized what it was.

Blood. And it was still wet.

He noticed another thing at the opposite end of the alley. He jogged towards it and crouched before it. Car tracks, he recognized. He felt them with his right palm. And they are still quite fresh. They seem to lead to the east.

Alarmed, something horrible came into his mind. For the third time this night, he cursed and raced back to the burning mansion. He could not explain the extreme pounding on his chest as so many possibilities were running across his sly mind. The only thing he can do now was to hope for her safety.

'Please Ran! Be safe!' Shinichi cried out with all his heart.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

"Keibu!" A police officer saluted at Inspector Megure. "The fire men said so far they had discovered three bodies inside. All dead. They still could not enter the mansion further since there's still fire and it would be too dangerous." He raised a half-burned jacket. "One fire men turned this over since they found it quite suspicious."

"Suspicious?"

"Hai. This was found lying in the middle of the living room. It was quite out of place since the whole living room was tidy and this was the only object found littering carelessly inside."

"Megure-keibu!"

After half an hour of searching, Inspector Megure found Shinichi running back to the crime scene.

"Kudo-kun, where have you been? You just suddenly rushed away in a hurry earlier."

"We have to search for Ran! Now! She is the key to this case and might be in great danger!"

"W-what?! How can you say that, Kudo-kun?!"

"A proof of that is the half-burned blue jacket the officer is currently holding is Ran's!" Shinichi said as he pointed at the jacket which made the two gasp in surprise. "I'll explain further later but now we have to find a black Porsche at a 50 kilometer radius from here! That's where Ran might be now!"

Several police cars and a few helicopters headed out in Inspector Megure's order. They were separated carefully in different areas to search for Ran. Shinichi and Megure, also, helped with the search and were together in one car.

"So, you mean while you were searching for her earlier, his pursuers found her before you and took her with them? Also, that's why we are searching for a black Porsche since that was the car that you saw they used earlier when you tailed them?" Inspector Megure asked. Both he and Shinichi were seated at the back.

"Exactly. Those people might have gone back to the mansion when they saw fire trucks and police cars heading to the mansion's direction sooner than they had expected. They became anxious and decided to go back to the mansion to observe, possibly anxious that Ran would be saved and blabber about what she saw they did since they just let her inhale some ammonia so when her burned and dead body was found, the police will not be suspicious and just look at it that Ran was just being a concerned citizen and unwisely decided to enter the mansion to save the people inside. When they didn't see Ran's body inside, they decided to search for her and took her with them when they finally found her."

"This is just a possibility, Kudo-kun. Why didn't they just kill Ran off when they saw her and left? That way it would have been much easier. Why carry the trouble in taking her with them?"

"Aa. That has been bothering me, too." Shinichi placed a hand on his chin, a pose he did whenever he was thinking something deeply. "But I'm basing my reasoning from the car tires while I was searching for Ran. I believe they already saw Ran's jacket was left inside. With just that, they could already form the conclusion their secret would be discovered in no time. They shouldn't fear anymore even though they would do things out in the open."

Inspector Megure, also, had his hand on his chin as he was thinking over everything Shinichi said. "Oh! By the way Kudo-kun, how did you know Ran-kun was the one staying in that alley? How sure were you that it wasn't somebody else?"

"It's because of the blood," he answered grimly.

"Eh?"

"There was blood on the ground when she probably lay down and became unconscious. And on the floor near the jacket, I, also, saw blood." His head was bowed; his bangs hid the expression he was wearing at the moment. However, the Inspector could feel every bit of the emotion through his pained and worried voice. He turned to him; his eyes mirrored his sympathy for him. Sure, this famous high school detective was cool, cocky and confident but it was Ran that they were talking about. At the moment, he was very anxious and worried and it was weakening every single bit of him.

Everyone knew how close these two were. As for Shinichi, he knew deep in his heart that Ran is the most important and the person he loves more than anything or anyone in this world. He could not afford to lose Ran now, no?

"Ma, ma, don't worry, Kudo-kun," Inspector Megure said as he patted Shinichi a little too hard on the back which made the high school detective choke and bring him back to reality. "Stop thinking too hard, alright? We're going to find her."

Shinichi looked at him with fragile eyes. It may seem out of character but he could not hide how much he worried for Ran anymore. He lightly smiled so as not to worry the inspector any longer and turned to the window to look outside.

'Ran…'

It seemed to shake the area when a sudden explosion happened. The few cars that were around during that late night stopped and the people were starting to go out from their houses to see what had just happened. The explosion seemed to be not far away from where Shinichi currently was. Another horrible possibility came into his mind and he unlocked the car's door and he rushed to what he believed as the source of the explosion. Any protests came from Inspector Megure went unheard by Shinichi. His ears were ringing and his mind was going overload. His terror was driving him insane and it was showing in every inch of his features.

'Please! Let me be wrong! Let me be wrong!'

He stopped as he saw the burning vehicle in front of him. His heart stopped and his pupils dilated as he had confirmed his hunch. The burning vehicle was the black Porsche that he was looking for and believed that was the car Ran was currently occupying.

Ran!

With just the thought of her being inside that burning car, he made the stupidest and most illogical decision. He made a run for the vintage car but several hands grabbed him and stopped him when he was only a few inches away from it.

"Let go of me!" he cried out as he struggled from their tight hold. "R-Ran! Ran's inside! I have to save her!"

"There's no point of going in there now, Kudo-kun!" Inspector Megure countered. "You'll burn to death! I've already ordered someone to get a fire extinguisher near here!"

Despite what the Inspector said, Shinichi continued thrashing around. He could not just relax knowing that Ran might really be inside.

Two police officers came back with fire extinguishers and started extinguishing the fire. Shinichi without any choice just observed as the fire was slowly extinguished by the two officers with horrified eyes. He already had stopped struggling as he felt his body getting weak. His worry was sucking the energy out of him and he hated that he cannot do anything about it. He felt so helpless.

After a few minutes, the fire was finally put out. With Inspector Megure's order, they freed Shinichi and he ran for the car. For the nth time that night, his heart stopped and his eyes widened as he saw a fully burned figure lied at the back seat. It was already unrecognizable but with just that sight, it was enough for Shinichi to break down since he knew despite of the fact that some things were still vague to him, no tricks were needed for this one to be done.

_The next file will be delivered soon!_

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for reading! Sorry if Shinichi was OOC there but if I would just base Shinichi's reaction in the 2012 Live Action when he knew Ran was dead, his character was not entirely out of the hook, considering the fact that the person he loved the most was dead.**

**Well, this is my first time writing something like this but I think it is a fail. Sorry.**

**So, please review! Any feedbacks would be very welcome so I would know what you think about this chapter! And also, that would be faster updates with more feedback.**

**October 13, 2012**


	3. File 3

**IMPORTANT! Please read!**

**To those who already had read the first uploaded third chapter, I purposely deleted it and uploaded this new one since I've added a little something at the end. I thought that everyone would want to have a peek of what I have in stored for this fic. Nothing changed with the chapter aside from some additions at the end. You can choose not to read it again and just scroll down until you see another bold sentence. Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience! **

**Author's Note:**

**Another update! I can update faster than usual since it's currently our semester break. ^^**

**Thank you to those who took their time in leaving a review! You don't know how much you've made me happy!**

**Happy reading everyone!**

**FILE 3**

Panic filled Mouri Ran. Who wouldn't? She had no idea where she was but that was just the minor part. She had no idea who she was.

She decided to enter an alley. That small action made her feel a bit secure. She slowly slid down the wall, her heart pounded and her breathing quickened as she was hyperventilating. Her head pounded and she winced. She reached for her head and felt it quite wet. She retrieved her hand and was surprised to see what it was.

Blood.

Her head was injured. She racked her head to remember where she got that injury but she failed. That's when she heard sirens.

A fire truck's siren and a police car's siren, she recognized. So, she's not that far away from that mansion. In fact, she could see the black smoke emerging from the burning house from her place.

That's right, she thought. She could not remember how she got inside that mansion. Why was she inside a burning mansion in the first place anyway? Was that her house? If it was, why was she lying on the floor at the middle of the living room? Also, why was she wearing over-sized clothing?

She punched the floor in frustration. She could not remember anything! Not even a single thing! Her mind felt like an empty black room. No matter what she did to remember, it turned out fruitless. She was about to put up another question when she stopped herself. She couldn't answer it anyway. Why bother? To what it looks like, she seemed to have amnesia. Yes, that was the safest answer.

She was completely lost. She did not know where she was or who she was. She did not know what to do or where to start. She could not remember anything and it was scaring the hell out of her.

Calm down… Oh, great. She even cannot address herself properly. She sighed and eased her right fist from the ground and was partly startled and partly amused to see it cracked.

Wow, so she was kind of strong, huh?

With her current condition, she needed to find help. She slowly pushed herself up but she suddenly stumbled back down. She let out a whimper as her rear hit the concrete floor quite painfully. For a moment there, she felt her vision doubled. Her head pounded and she held it for comfort. The damp on her head was getting worse. The blood continued to flow from her wound.

The injury's effects finally kicked in. Not good, she thought. If she would pass out here in the middle of the night, no one could help here until the morning comes and it is not a very good sign. She had to do something before it would be too late. But she could not come to let herself stand. Her body felt weak and her legs were giving up on her.

"Help! Is there anyone who can hear me?!" she shouted in desperation, her head turned from left to right; hoping someone, anyone heard her. She sighed and she just stayed there for a while. This was getting hopeless until she finally heard a voice, a man's voice, shouting desperately around.

"RAN! Where are you?!"

Her face lit up and her eyes widened in recognition. Finally! Someone finally came! She thought gratefully. That someone might not exactly be looking for me but someone finally happened to pass by around here. I can finally be saved!

"If you hear my voice, answer back! Don't be afraid, Ran! It's me! Shinichi!"

She was about to shout back when she rapidly blinked her eyes. Her vision was starting to get blurry and she could feel that she was slowly drifting off from reality. That moment, she heard slow and heavy footsteps nearing her. She looked at her right but could not make out much than a vague figure. Before she had a good look of the person before her, she slowly fell sideways and crashed on the floor out cold.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

Mouri Ran slowly opened her eyes, vision still blurry. She closed her eyes again when it was met by a bright light. She held up a hand to shadow her eyes and opened it again.

'Where... am I?'

The first thing she saw was a white ceiling. Then, she noticed she was lying on something quite soft and comfortable – a bed. She slowly sat up and started looking around her. She was surrounded by a wall at four corners with a door at her far left and a window by her right. There was a long sofa leaning at the wall and a side table. She saw no one around inside the room. She sniffed as the familiar scent filled her nose.

This is a hospital, she confirmed.

By impulse, she reached for the back of her head and felt something soft – a bandage. The wound on her head had been treated. She winced and held her forehead. She still felt a bit dizzy but that was not the issue right now.

Where did she get the injury? What happened after that? Again, she could not remember anything. Nothing. What's happening to her? She even had no idea who brought her here in the hospital.

"Oh! You're finally awake!"

Ran slightly flinched in surprise as she heard a high-pitched female's voice. She looked ahead and saw a smiling face of a foreign woman as she closed the door behind her. She had blond hair pulled back in a bun with crystal blue eyes and had pale-white skin. She approached the side of the bed and looked at her with concerned eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Based on her funny accent when speaking Japanese, Ran was certain she was an American. Despite the funny accent, her grammar was not bad.

"Ano… I still feel a bit dizzy but I feel better now."

She clasped her hands together in delight. "That's good! The doctor said feeling a bit dizzy is just normal. I can see you look better now since you looked dangerously pale when I saw you. It may seem that your sleep of three days straight had made your condition better."

Ran's pupils dilated as her mouth slowly widened. She could not believe what she had just heard. "T-Three days?! I've been out for three days?!" she exclaimed in pure astonishment.

The woman let out an amused chuckle to that and replied, "Yes, my dear. You've been through quite an adventure before you passed out. But I will not go through the details just yet. The doctor needs to examine you first. Wait here while I call him." She turned around and was soon out of Ran's sight.

After a few moments, the American woman arrived with a doctor and a nurse following close behind her. The doctor bid her a good morning with a smile and proceeded to examine her while the woman stood and observed at the other side of the bed.

"Well, you seem to be in a great condition, Tenshi-chan," the doctor remarked cheerily after a few minutes of examination, placing the stethoscope on his neck.

Ran gave him a blank look and blinked a few times and said, "A-ano… Doctor-san, is Tenshi… my name?"

The three adults exchanged horrified looks before looking back at the patient.

"What do you mean by that, Ojou-chan? You don't remember your name?" the doctor asked, his eyebrows slightly raised in alarm and his eyes full of concern.

She shook her head. "To be honest, I don't remember anything. Who I am, who my family is, and where I live, up to what happened to me before I lost consciousness. Nothing at all."

The doctor put a hand on her shoulder and asked another question, "How do you feel about it?"

The shrunken karate champion wandered about it for a moment before she answered it with a shrug of her shoulders. "I-I don't know. I just… feel so empty right now. So lost."

The doctor stood up and took the folder from the nurse. He opened it and scanned it.

"Doctor," the woman said. "Does this mean… she's having amnesia?"

The doctor looked up from the folder and replied, "So it seems, Cruz-san. According to the CT scan that we had conducted, there wasn't any damage done to her brain due to the head injury. So, I can safely say her memory loss was not caused by it. What triggered it could be the traumatic event that she is going through right now. Saying that, Tenshi-chan may be suffering from functional amnesia or should we say functional retrograde amnesia to be precise."

"Functional retrograde… amnesia? What is that doctor?"

"People with this disorder have much more extensive forgetting that may obscure their whole past," the doctor explained. "They commonly forget their personal identity and personal memories."

The American woman whom the doctor addressed as Cruz looked at Ran with concerned eyes while the little girl bowed her head and her bangs concealed the horror which was evident in her eyes.

"But," the doctor added as he placed both hands on either of Ran's shoulders. "Don't lose heart, Tenshi-chan. Typically, this kind of functional amnesia ends by itself within a few days or weeks. However, often times, after recovery the individual fails to remember anything that occurred during this state. All in all, that's good news, isn't it?" He smiled warmly at her.

Ran's head sprung up and she looked at the doctor, her eyes hopeful. "Are you sure about that, Doctor-san?"

He nodded. "There's no doubt about it."

Ran could not help herself but smile widely at it as she felt new hope building within her.

"That's great, isn't it?" Cruz said in a smile.

Later, with the doctor's consent, Ran was discharged from the hospital. After a few minutes, Ran found herself riding at the passenger seat of Cruz's car and Cruz was the one driving.

"By the way, your name is Tenshi Rena," the woman said, breaking the silence.

Ran or Rena, just what the foreigner addressed her looked at her. "Rena… Tenshi Rena. So that's my name."

"And I am Janel Cruz. Nice to meet you," she said in a smile and looked at Rena briefly before returning her attention to the road in front of her. "You still might be wondering what my relationship with you is. I am actually your mother's best friend."

Rena's eyes widened to that. Before she could ask about her family, Cruz interrupted her.

"Let's eat lunch at a nearby family restaurant. I bet you are hungry," Cruz offered, changing the subject.

Come to think of it, Rena's stomach was growling already and needed to be filled. Cruz chuckled to Rena's honest stomach while the owner just blushed to that.

Cruz parked the car outside a family restaurant and they exited the car. She held hands with Rena and they entered the restaurant together. The restaurant had a fair amount of customers and it had that lively environment which made each family eating there have a good time. A waitress guided them to a table for two beside a window and they took their seats. Then, each of them was given a menu. After a few moments, they gave their orders to the waitress and the both of them were left alone again.

"Today's a great day, isn't it?" Cruz said as she looked at outside. It was a great day indeed since it was a sunny Sunday. There was a great deal of families strolling for their day off.

Rena just looked at her with a slightly annoyed expression. With her current condition, no matter how great today is, it was not for her in any single way. Sure, she may have her memories back in a few days or weeks but there are a lot of questions in her head especially the event three days ago and she wanted answers now. This woman was not telling her anything aside from her name and it was annoying every single bit of her.

She opened her mouth to say something when the woman spoke first.

"Do you really want to know everything that badly?" the woman said as she turned to her with a serious expression.

Rena was taken aback to that question. How did she…?

"I can tell by your face," she answered the unspoken question. "I can tell you everything about your past but about what happened to you three days ago? Are you sure you want to know? That's why you lost memory so your mind would not remember what happened during that time."

"But I want to know!" Rena exclaimed quite harshly than she intended. Her eyes were already filled with tears. "I don't care if my brain locked my memories so I won't remember what happened three days ago! I don't care if it was something that my brain doesn't want to remember! All I care about now is what happened! I just want to know something so… I won't feel so empty and so… lost anymore."

Janel let out a sad smile and stood up to sit beside Rena. She hugged her and Rena started to sob. She cooed her while she stroked the little girl's back to comfort her. "I'm sorry, Rena-chan. I can't tell you anything that had happened three days ago yet. It's the doctor's orders. I'm just thinking about you. It would be bad for you if I would tell you and the memories would force in your head. You will know everything, Rena-chan. You will know everything in time."

Rena understood everything she said but she just continued to cry her heart out.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

"Oh, so I and my parents are just here for vacation?" Rena said as she placed an eggroll in her mouth.

Janel nodded. "You were born here in Japan but after a few months when you were born, you flew to New York and migrated there though you go back here every now and then. You are an only child. Your father is a business man and your mother is a bank teller."

"Then? Where are they now?"

"Well… You see…" she started uncomfortably.

"They are probably dead, right?" she said with a bitter smirk.

Janel was taken aback to that and Rena's smirk grew. "I knew it."

"W-what? What do you mean by that? Don't tell me…"

She shook her head. "How I wished my memories had returned but no. I just concluded it since I went on a vacation here together with my parents but I never seen them since I woke up. They should have been worried because I was unconscious for three days but they never showed up. If they are just badly hurt just like me, you should have told me that earlier and we have visited them but nothing like that happened. So, that was the safest answer. Well, am I wrong?"

Janel was still looking at her, her eyes wide and full of disbelief. Usually, kids of this age are usually ignorant and carefree. Who would have thought this kid in front of her, who was a seven year old, was capable to do something like this? She closed her eyes briefly to open it again. She smiled at her, her eyes glinted a mix of amusement, excitement and mischief. "Oh, impressive, Rena-chan. You seem to be pretty sharp today."

She let out a bitter laugh. "Am I always like this?"

She just simply shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? I did not get to know you well before."

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

Kisaki Eri had just signed in her office again after having her lunch and the three day absence. She walked towards her desk with her secretary close behind her. She placed her brief case on the desk and seated herself on a comfortable swiveling black chair behind it. She took a folder that was handed to her by her secretary, opened it and read it.

"Hmm… This case seems to be going according to our league," she said satisfactorily, looking up at her secretary with a small smile.

"Uhm… Sensei, it's not like I'm being too intrusive but are you sure you want to go back to work after… you know… after all that has happened?"

Grief and sadness glinted in her eyes but she quickly concealed it and replied, "The events that had happened these past three days may have been heavy and dreadful but I should not let my own struggles interfere with my profession."

"That may be it! But Sensei, are you sure you are alright? I'm just concerned about you."

Eri bowed her head and let out a sad smile, "I would be lying if I would say I'm okay after what had happened. It is still a very sensitive issue and I don't know when I can move on. Probably, never." She looked up and the secretary held up her hand to her mouth to suppress the gasp as she saw that tears were now forming on the lawyer's eyes which are behind her lenses and it could fall any minute. "I just could not let myself lock up in my apartment and cry all day. I already did my mourning for her for three days."

"Sensei…"

She chuckled lightly and took off her glasses to wipe off the tears on her eyes. "Besides, Ran would be sad if she would see me sad and depressed. And I don't want that to happen. The only way I could think of to get my mind off of it is work. So, is that reasonable enough?" Eri let out a smile but her eyes showed her concealed pain and sadness.

The secretary looked at her briefly before nodding. "Hai. I understand."

"Arigatou."

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both exchanged glances, puzzled to who it might be.

"Come in," Eri called out.

The door slowly opened, revealing a foreigner and a little girl. "Hi!" the foreigner greeted in a grin.

Eri stood up in surprise. "Janel! You finally came!"

"Surprise!" the foreigner said as she closed the door behind her.

Eri approached her to hug her. "It took you long enough to come here and visit me." the lawyer asked when they parted.

"It was three days ago when I last called, right? Sorry if I was not able to visit you sooner. A lot of things happened to me when I arrived."

"Is that so?" Eri noticed the little girl that was standing beside Janel. "Who is this pretty little girl you have here?"

"Oh, she's a child of my friend."

Eri crouched in front of Rena and said in a smile, "My name's Kisaki Eri. What's your name, Ojou-chan?"

"Tenshi Rena desu! Nice to meet you!" Rena replied in a high-pitched voice quite energetically.

Eri's eyes widened in recognition. Something… There's something about this girl. This girl, Tenshi Rena, reminded her of someone. She felt her heart getting light. Something within her was telling her that she already had met this little girl. Before she knew it, she already had her arms wrapped around her and the poor little girl was left confused by the sudden action. That's right. Tenshi Rena reminded her of her late daughter Mouri Ran. Their only difference was she did not possess Ran's trademark horn. She pulled her closer and she hugged her tighter, missing the familiar feeling whenever she and Ran hugged.

"Uhm… Kisaki-san?" Rena said, her eyes mirroring her worry as she heard the lawyer sobbing softly. She did not seem to hear her since they still remained in their current position. "Kisaki-san?" she tried again. "Are you… alright?"

Eri's eyes widened in surprise and she quickly wiped her tears as she returned to reality and let the little girl go from her tight grasp. She saw the girl's worried eyes and her heart ached. Even that resembled too much of Ran.

"I'm sorry, Rena-chan," she finally said as she composed herself. "You've just reminded me of someone very dear to me. Are you okay? Did I hug you too tight?"

Rena shook her head. "No, not at all."

"Eri, by someone you mean…" Janel asked but did not bother to finish the sentence.

Eri nodded as she stood up.

"I'm sorry about that Er."

Eri shook her head. "Let's have seat first before we talk further." she said as she waved her at a sofa that was located at the left. She turned to her secretary. "Could I trouble you to make some coffee, juice and some snacks for us?"

"Right away, Sensei," she replied and she quickly went out of the room.

"How are you, Janel?" Eri asked as soon as the three of them already sat down on the long sofa.

"I should be the one asking that question to you. How are you, Eri?"

She bowed her head and light reflected her glasses, hiding the windows of her soul.

"I know you don't want to talk about it now, Eri," she said as she held Eri's hand that was resting on her lap. "But just remember I'm just here if you want someone to lean on."

Eri looked up at her and nodded. "Thank you, Janel."

Janel smiled back. "I know you already have a lot of troubles but I really need to trouble you of another thing."

"Sure, anything for you, Janel."

"After the tragic event, I know you need something or someone to distract you so you would not think about it and I've found the perfect thing for you! Could you take care of Rena-chan for me?"

** XXXXIT STARTS **

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

After a few minutes of persuasion with the famous lawyer, Janel climbed back in her car with a triumphant smile tugged on her lips. She had insisted that she would fix everything from Rena's papers for her migration here in Japan, her adoption of the little girl until to the admission of the little girl to a primary school. She did not want the little girl to hear the details of her parents' death so she just promised to e-mail to the lawyer the details later.

She closed the car's door and grabbed her chin. She pulled it a little and proceeded to peel off her face the plastic rubber which she used as a disguise, revealing a different beautiful face of the same nationality. She had wavy platinum blond hair flowing freely on her back and keen crystal blue eyes. Her skin was porcelain white and her face contained sharp and distinct features which made up that beautiful face accompanied by a slender body. No wonder she was a famous public icon in the States.

She threw the mask at the back and flipped her hair in satisfaction. "Well, that was quite easy."

A ring was heard and she leaned towards the dashboard as she recognized the calling ringtone of her cell phone. She glanced at the screen to see who was calling, then, proceeded to click the answer button and placed it on her ear.

"Hello, Gin."

"Vermouth," answered a deep male voice. He sounded slightly annoyed but his steady, calculating and steel-toned voice which could make the hairs of a person's body stand still remained. "I've been calling you for quite a while now. It's not like you not to answer my calls right away. Are you doing something on your own again, Vermouth?"

Vermouth laughed lightly to that before she replied easily, "Ara? You sound so suspicious, Gin. Don't worry. I just did some strolling and forgot my cell phone in the car."

The other went silent for a while. Vermouth guessed Gin was still absorbing what she said and was deciding if he should believe her or not. She let out a smirk to that.

"Anokata wanted us to do another mission," said Gin, changing the subject. Whether he believed her or not will remain a mystery to Vermouth. What she is sure for now was he bought her excuse and that was enough at this moment. "We'll be meeting at the same place at four o'clock."

She let out a menacing smile to that. "Roger that," she answered and she hang up the phone to that. She glanced at the building one last time with a dangerous glint on her eyes along with that knowing smile. She pulled down the hand brake, went on to gear and drove away.

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for reading!**

**You must be wondering why Ran seems to be pretty sharp in this chapter and also kind of harsh or in other words, so un-Ran. I actually did it on purpose and have a reason behind it. *wink wink***

**Credits to Encarta for the information about the functional amnesia.**

**So, please review! Feedbacks, comments and suggestions are very welcome! 'Til next time!**

**October 18, 2012**

**Edited: October 20, 2012**


	4. File 4

**Author's Note:**

**As you can see, I've uploaded a cover page for this fan fiction. I've made it myself! Hee hee… I know I'm not that good at drawing but I wanted the readers to have a visual to what Ran currently looks like when she shrunk. Considering Vermouth changed her appearance so she won't be easily recognized by the people around her, her trademark horn was removed. ^^**

**Happy reading everyone!**

**FILE 4**

A black luxury Mercedes Benz parked its way inside the Kudo grounds. The engine died down and a screeching sound of pulling the hand break up was heard. Several clicks were heard next as the car door for the front seat, passenger seat and back seat opened. Kudo Yusaku, Kudo Yukiko and Kudo Shinichi climbed out of the car, all dressed in black. They've just attended Ran's funeral.

Shinichi lazily closed the door and hung his head up to look at the sky above him. The weather was quite gloomy. The gray clouds were covering the entire sky, leaving the bright Sunday noon sunshine hidden behind them. It radiated a shadowy impression on the earth below, making the atmosphere sad altogether. For Kudo Shinichi, it was the perfect weather at this moment since he felt the same way, even worse.

His bangs drifted as air blew past him. His eyelids fluttered, feeling the cold air and wishing the wind would blow away the amount of pain and sadness that he felt. How he wished the wind would blow away his problems. How he wished the wind would blow away everything and when he would open his eyes again, reality could tell him everything was just a dream, a very cruel dream.

"Shin-chan."

A sudden feeling of hope filled him as he heard a voice. Yes, this is a dream, he encouraged himself. 'Kaasan is already there to wake me up. That's right. Just a cruel dream.

"Shin-chan," the voice tried again with a hint of worry. It also felt closer.

Kudo Yukiko exchanged a worried glance with her husband as Shinichi did not stir.

"Shin-chan," she said once more but softer as she placed a hand on his shoulder. The gesture made the high school detective snap his eyes open and flinch slightly. He slowly turned his head to his mother with a blank expression.

"Are you okay, Shin-chan? Do you want us to talk?" Yukiko asked as her hand found her way to touch his cheek affectionately, her eyes filled with worry and motherly love.

"'Kaa-san!" he exclaimed as he swatted away Yukiko's hand and his cheeks flushed slightly. "You're doing something embarrassing, again," he said in irritation as he turned his back at her.

Surprise was evident on her features at Shinichi's sudden outburst. Then, her eyebrows slowly creased and her eyes flared as her surprise turned to anger. She grabbed his shoulders and forcibly turned him to face her which surprised the young detective. Their eyes met.

"I'm serious, Shinichi." Shinichi's eyes widened as he realized how serious she was which was very rare. "Tell me what you are feeling. I'm your mother."

He considered for a moment before he forced out a smile and replied in a fake playful tone, "What are you talking about, 'Kaa-san? I'm alright."

Stubborn as she was, she did not let him go and continued to scan his eyes, attempting to read them but she failed. Her warm eyes were not met by a pair of smiling eyes just like what he was showing. Instead, they were just met by a pair of unreadable cerulean eyes. Obviously, his facade was a fake. His smile did not reach his eyes. What was he feeling, then? She scanned them again but she was stuck. She cannot read him. When had he been so good at hiding his emotions? Guess his one year of experience in being a detective did a very good job.

"Don't worry about me, 'Kaa-san," he grinned. Another fake smile. She may not read it but she could feel it. It was what they call a mother's instinct.

She shook her head, unconvinced. "But Shin-chan…"

He placed both of his hands behind his head as he started to walk to the main door. "We should get in now. Judging the amount of dark clouds that are slowly gathering in the sky, it should rain any minute now and a hard one, too." He opened the door and disappeared from their sight as he entered the house, leaving the door open.

Yukiko decided to follow Shinichi but she was stopped by Yusaku. She glared at him in protest but he insisted and shook his head.

"Leave him be," said Yusaku. "Our son is already seventeen. He knows what he is doing."

"I know that! But Yusaku he needs us! For three days straight now, he's always zoning out and he's almost ate nothing! This is not healthy anymore, dear! At this rate, he needs someone to talk to!" Yukiko protested.

"No, Yukiko," Yusaku replied firmly. "I believe he wants to be alone. He seems to blame himself of what had become of Ran."

"But it's not his fault. He did not know this will happen."

"Yes, but Shinichi does not seem to realize it yet."

"That's why we need to talk to him all the more!"

"No, Yukiko. We should give him time to be alone. To gather his thoughts. To reflect. Let's give him a few hours. After that, we will intrude."

Yukiko crossed her arms on her chest, turned her back on him and said in defeat, "Okay. I will go talk to him before dinner."

Yusaku smiled. He wrapped his arms on her waist from the back and kissed her cheek. Yukiko smiled and pushed herself closer to him. He hugged her tighter as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Will Shin-chan be alright?" Yukiko asked.

"It's Shinichi we are talking about here. He's our son, remember? Of course he is going to be alright."

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

Kudo Shinichi was lying down on his bed and did not bother to change since he was still in his black coat and tie. His hands were placed at the back of his head, used it as a pillow. His eyes were affixed on the ceiling above him, lost in thought.

He closed his eyes and scenes of what had happened came in short flashbacks. The first thing he saw was the beautiful park which was elegantly struck by the moon's silver rays in a deep and starry night. Then, he saw a fully burnt vintage car at the middle of the park. Inside the burnt car, three fully burnt and unidentifiable found were found. One was seated at the driver's side, the other on the passenger's side and the third one was lying at the backseat.

That's right. It was the dreadful scene that had happened last night which he so much regretted.

Shinichi deduced that the two people seated at the front might be the two men in black he had seen earlier and the person at the back, he hated to admit it, was most likely Ran. In fact, witness had supported that deduction.

The woman said, "I was just going home from work when I saw a black car losing control and skidding to a halt at the middle of the park. Then, I saw a lady frantically climbing out the car and running away from the car very fast as if her life depended on it. However, the two men which I believed was in black had also climbed out from their cars, one was holding his head and the other was holding the back of his neck with what it seems like a metal pipe in hand. They caught up with her and hit her with the metal pipe in the head which made the girl instantly unconscious. That's when I heard the police sirens. I saw them panicking and hurriedly dragging the girl back to the car. Before they climb back inside their car, they see police cars and helicopters everywhere and getting near at this location. A helicopter's light focused on them and they instantly hid their faces. I thought they are going to start the car again to escape when a sudden loud and strong explosion startled me and made me drop to the ground. Then, everyone arrived."

He saw himself next. He showed the woman a picture of Ran for confirmation but she just shook her head and said, "I can't tell. It was dark and I can't see her face. But I saw the girl had long hair and I think she was 5'4'' to 5'6'' in height. Also, I saw she was wearing long sleeves and shorts."

"And the two men in black that you saw, did one of the two had long hair, tall and had a hat on? And the other, was he chubby, shorter than the other and also had a hat on?" Shinichi asked.

The woman considered this for a moment before replying, "Yeah, they seemed like it."

The scene changed and he saw himself again, with a flashlight in hand, pacing around the park and crouching from time to time. With his keen and eager eyes scanning around, it seemed like he was trying to find something on the well-trimmed grass around him.

"Kudo-kun!" Inspector Megure called out to him. "What are you doing there?"

"Finding evidence to prove that the one in the back seat is not Ran!" he shouted back. He stopped when he saw stains on the grass that was in front of him. He crouched down and concentrated the light to it for better sight. With his one year of experience, his instincts told him that it's not just a normal stain but it was blood.

The scene changed again and he saw himself once again sitting at the waiting area of the Police Headquarters. His back was crouched as his elbows leaned on his lap, his chin resting on his hands. His eyes looked restless and his feet were tapping on the floor impatiently. He stood at once when the door not far away from him opened and Inspector Megure came into view.

Shinichi rushed to his side and asked anxiously, "So, what were the results, Megure-keibu?"

Inspector Megure faced him and the grave look that was evident on his features literally made Shinichi's heart stop for the nth time that night. "M-Megure-keibu?" he tried again with a slightly shaky voice.

"According to the test that we've just conducted, the blood stains you found at the park's grass… matched Ran's."

Shinichi's eyes widened and his pupils dilated in disbelief. His face showed his horror as his body was starting to shake violently.

Inspector Megure placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kudo-kun."

His eyes snapped open when he heard a knock on the door.

"Shin-chan," it was his mother's voice. "Dinner's ready."

Dinner? He sat up and looked out the window. It was already dark outside and he could see the street lamps had been lit. Based on the water that had suspended on the glass window, it certainly had rained earlier though now it had ceased. He smirked to himself. Time runs faster than he thought.

He stood up and went for the door. He opened it and saw the smiling face of his mother.

"Have you thought everything over?" asked Yukiko.

Shinichi averted his gaze to the ground, surprised by the sudden unusual question and at the same time, not sure what to answer. "Yeah, I guess."

Yukiko hugged him and Shinichi gaped at her. "Don't you dare push me away again or I will literally hit you."

For the first time for days, a small but genuine smile escaped his lips and he replied playfully, "How scary." Involuntarily, he, also, wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. Maybe he actually needed this hug. He felt so lonely after Ran's lost, after all. And maybe, he actually had missed his parents.

She laughed lightly to that and she hugged him tighter, "I can't remember when I've hugged you like this." Yukiko pulled them apart to look at her son warmly. "Just remember Shin-chan: You did not want this to happen. Nobody did. If you knew, I know you would not let this happen. Also, don't place all the blame to yourself because you are not to be blamed. Remember it's not your fault."

A glint of recognition showed in his eyes for a split second.

"If you can't avenge her because her murderers are already dead because they committed suicide, you stay strong for her, okay? I know you are still mourning for her Ran won't be happy if you keep on zoning out like this. And don't be too hard on yourself, okay?"

He let out another smile and nodded. Yukiko smiled back to that. She knew this time it was real. It reached his eyes and she could feel it.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

On Monday afternoon, Kudo Shinichi was walking back home from school while he played with a soccer ball, for the first time, alone. He and Ran always went home together.

Another pang of sadness hit him as he remembered those times when he and Ran would laugh together, argue, sulk then laugh again for their childishness. All those things they did while they were walking home from school. He smiled sadly in recognition. He missed those times. He missed Ran.

Despite what his mother had told him, he was still feeling guilty about her death. Can he blame himself for blaming himself for getting her killed?

O-kay. That came out weird. Anyways, the point is:

If only he did not pursue the man in black…

If only he did not leave Ran alone…

If only he just went home early…

All of this should not have happened!

Now. Now… he will never be able to tell her what she meant to him.

He will never be able to tell her how much she meant to him.

Most importantly, he will never be able to tell her 'I love you'.

The ball bounced on the ground as he stopped in his tracks and refused to kick it. His head bowed and his bangs shadowed his eyes.

She never had the chance to know how he truly felt for her.

She never had the chance to feel how lucky he felt for someone kind like her to be his friend.

She never had the chance to feel how special she was for him.

"HELP!"

Shinichi's head snapped upright and he came back to his senses when he heard a high-pitched, probably of a child's but desperate call. He was alarmed by it and he looked back, believing that the source came from there. He was startled as a man passed by him with an incredible speed.

Then, he saw a little girl turn at the corner a few meters away from him and was running furiously. She seemed to be trying to run after the man but she was falling behind quite helplessly. She saw Shinichi and she stopped in exhaustion. She pointed at the man who was getting away quite fast and shouted to him breathlessly, "Please catch that man, Nii-chan! He took my wallet!"

Alarmed, he turned again and saw the man was not that far away yet. He saw his forgotten soccer ball was lying carelessly on the ground. He made a run for it and kicked it with all his strength with the thought of, "Shame on you! Taking a wallet from a vulnerable little girl! EAT THIS!"

The ball went on flying towards the man and it hit him roughly and squarely on the head. He came on crashing on the ground, his hands lost its grip at the newly stolen wallet and it dropped on the ground before him. His eyes blinked rapidly as he was trying to shove off the stars that he was seeing in his vision.

"Goal!" Shinichi said triumphantly as he lowered his right feet on the ground.

The girl was staring at Shinichi, her eyes were wide and her mouth was agape in astonishment.

Shinichi turned to the road as he saw a police man passed by on a bike. He called out to him and the police man stopped. He jogged towards the police man and pointed at the man who lied on the floor out cold and explained everything to him. The police man nodded and praised him for his hard work and told him he would take it from here. Then, he took out a radio from his pocket and reported everything at the station.

Shinichi, on the other hand, approached the thief and picked up the wallet on the ground. Then, he ran towards the little girl and crouched down to be in eye contact with her. "Here," he said in a warm smile as he handed to her the wallet. "This is yours, right?"

Tenshi Rena nodded and took the wallet from him. She grinned at him and bowed deeply, "Thank you very much, Nii-chan!"

He placed a hand on her head and replied, "No prob-" He stopped as he had a good look of the little girl's face after she straightened her back from the bow.

She was smiling very sweetly at him. That smile… Those warm and sincere set of lavender eyes were painfully familiar to him. Where have he seen them before?

His eyes widened as it finally struck him when that one name came into his head.

Ran.

Before he realized what he was doing, he already had pulled the little girl to his chest and had his hands wrapped around her in a tight embrace.

You have come back for me, Ran.

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Well, frankly speaking, I feel uncomfortable about this chapter. It just feels weird in some way. -.-**

**Anyway, please review! I really want to know your thoughts about this chapter. 'Til next time!**

**August 26, 2012**


	5. File 5

**Again, to those who took the time to review, thank you so much! You don't know how much they mean to me. ^^**

**Happy reading everyone!**

**FILE 5**

You have come back for me, Ran.

At this very moment, nothing mattered to Kudo Shinichi aside from this. After those days of pain, bitterness and agony of thinking and of blaming himself of her death and now she was here ady dead and now she was here, in his arms – he felt like his entire being was set free. He had never felt so alive before.

His eyes started to sting. He closed it, savoring the moment that he had been waiting for and at the same time, was fighting the urge to cry. He could not afford to let Ran see him crying. His pride would not let him. He hugged her tighter and he stroked her hair – the action comforted him instead of her.

"Ran, you idiot! You really are troublesome!" Shinichi scolded her. He felt like something within him snapped and the emotion that first surfaced was anger or worried-anger kind of way.

"Who told you to fight those people all by yourself?! Now, you do realize those people are dangerous, right? Not to mention they are armed. Your karate is nothing against them! Did you know how I felt when I thought you're dead?!"

They stayed that way for another moment in silence. Rena was still in shock and she could not come to let herself speak. She was too dazed to do so. The events were just too fast for her to react. Instead, she just found herself gazing at him, astounded and listening to everything he said for the past minutes.

"But I'm going to forget what you did," he continued, his voice was slightly quivering. His true feelings finally got the best of him. "You're here now and that's what matters. It is okay now Ran. Everything's going to be alright. If anything similar will happen to you ever again-" He was struggling hard to keep it that's why he had been closing his eyes all this time. But as what they say, body language was hard to contain. A lone tear escaped his left eye and it slowly glided down his cheek, a sun's ray reflected it to show how real it was. "I will never forgive myself."

That gave Rena's breath away. What he just said. It was definitely heavy.

Then, she decided to interrupt when she realized the hug was getting too tight and too long for comfort. Honestly, he was starting to choke her.

"A-ano… Nii-chan?" she said, her words were muffled by his chest. "Isn't this a bit too… tight?" she asked, trying her best not to sound strained. She did not want to embarrass and make him feel uncomfortable. She might not understand anything but one thing was clear: he was going through a lot.

Who would have thought that someone would just suddenly hug a stranger and murmur things just like "come back", "everything's okay" and "dead"? Also, who was this Ran girl that he was repeating over and over again? Could it be? Yes, it must be since he had thought she was Ran-neechan, too.

Her shoulders slumped as she realized who he was referring to. She looked at him sadly. She was sure this Nii-chan must really be into her for him to say things like this and led him into thinking that she was that Nee-chan.

Thankfully, Shinichi heard her and he quickly wiped the lone tear which he finally realized had escaped his eye. He let out a gasp as he finally seemed to realize that the person he was hugging was not the person he had thought in the first place. How? Obviously the person he was hugging was not a high school student like he had originally thought but instead she was just a primary school student.

He abruptly pulled them apart and apologized sheepishly, a slight tinge of pink was evident on his cheek. "I-I'm so sorry, Ojou-chan."

'How ridiculous can I get?!' he mentally scolded himself. 'How did I come to think that Ran was this little girl? Stupid!'

She shook her head and replied, "No, it's alright."

Now that he had took another good look at her, it surprised him how this little girl here looked so similar with Ran. Aside from Ran's trademark horn in which she did not possess, her lavender-colored eyes, her short brown hair, her whole being – she was a total replica of Ran when she was at the same age as her, if he can remember clearly. No wonder why he had thought this girl was Ran.

Or maybe he just missed Ran more than he had thought because of all people; it was a primary school student.

Not good. He was lucky now because the one he hugged was just a little girl. Maybe next time he would hug another stranger, he would not be so lucky anymore. He might be sued for being a pervert which did not pleased him a single bit. He shuddered and immediately dismissed the thought.

"-okay, Nii-chan?"

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the girl was trying to catch his attention by waving her hand in front of him. It looked like she was doing it for quite a while since her face was starting to show worry. Even that resembled too much of Ran and it was starting to get scary.

He saw her tilting her head to the side, her eyebrows creased. He realized he has not answered her yet. He smiled at her and replied, "Aa. I'm alright. Sorry again if Nii-chan suddenly hugged you earlier. You just resembled someone I knew."

She shook her head. "No, it's alright."

"Oh, by the way, Nii-chan," she added. "As my thank you for helping me earlier, I want to invite you for dinner." She grinned at him.

Shinichi was more than happy to oblige. Because: 1) His parents already flew back to America this morning after a lot of persuasion from him so no one would cook for him today. 2) He did not know how to cook. 3) Professor Agasa was away for a month-long seminar and that meant he will be eating from a fast food chain for the rest of the month and it's not healthy at all.

It was a rare chance and he should not back down now, can't he? After all, she was the one who asked for him to come.

"Are you sure it's going to be alright with your Okaasan?" Shinichi asked.

Rena nodded eagerly. "She will probably be very glad because if it were not for you, our money for dinner would have been all gone."

"Then, you mean you are the one going to the market to buy dinner?"

"Exactly since Okaasan's busy. Can you go with me, Nii-chan?"

Shinichi sighed. Did he have any choice? He smiled at her. "Of course."

"Arigatou! And also, don't worry Nii-chan."

"Eh?"

She winked. "I won't tell Ran-neechan about everything you've said. You can count on me!"

Shinichi's sweat dropped and he laughed nervously, "I'll count on you then."

His eyes narrowed. 'That would be scary if you could find a way to talk to her,' he thought grimly.

"What's your name, Nii-chan?"

"Huh?" He looked back at her. "Oh, My name's Kudo Shinichi. How about you, Ojou-chan?"

"Rena! Tenshi Rena!" she replied.

"Tenshi… Rena?" Shinichi repeated skeptically. What a weird name, he thought. If he was correct, it meant Resurrected Angel. Also, a family name meaning Angel seemed kind of unusual. But he just dismissed the thought as he stood up and held his hand out to her, "Let's go?"

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

Kudo Shinichi watched Tenshi Rena as she bought some vegetables while he was playing with his ball a few yards away. A small smile played on his lips.

It had been a long time since he had been here. Ever since he had been active in being a high school detective, cases came to him from left to right and he barely had free time. Before, he had been here every single day because he and Ran would come by here whenever they walk home because she needed to buy the ingredients for dinner.

He suddenly tensed and he caught his soccer ball with his hand. Now that he had mentioned it, this was another similarity of Rena-chan with Ran. A wave of sadness hit him.

Ran…

"I'm finish buying, Shinichi-niichan." Rena was already standing beside him and looking up at him. Each hand was occupied with a plastic bag filled of newly bought ingredients.

He crouched down and took one plastic bag. "Here, let me help you."

"Ah, no, it's alright. I can handle it. It's not too heavy."

He shook his head and he stood up. "If I'm going to eat with you, the least I can do is to help you with these."

Giving up, she just grinned at him and thanked him again.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

"Ano… Rena-chan, are we near to your house?" He did not understand but he just could not shake off the uneasy feeling that was creeping inside him that's why he decided to ask.

They had just passed by his house in the second street and they were heading towards the third street.

Rena nodded. "We're near."

"Where exactly is your house, Rena-chan?" Now, they've just passed by the 4th street.

"Let's take a turn here, Nii-chan," Rena said as she turned in the 5th street and Shinichi followed.

His uneasy feeling was finally supported when they stopped in front of the least place that he wanted to go. Not only that, Rena declared it as her current house. He felt his heart drop and he was starting to regret that he accepted her offer.

"This is where I live, Shinichi-niichan: The Detective Mouri's Agency," Rena said proudly.

He was totally speechless now. H-how? Don't tell me this was another coincidence? What the heck was going on here?

"Oh, Rena-chan, you're here. Welcome home," Eri greeted as she took her final step from the flight of stairs that led to the Agency. She noticed the teenage boy accompanying Rena and was quite surprised to see it was Shinichi. "Isn't that Shinichi-kun?"

Shinichi was snapped out of his reverie and turned his head to Eri's direction. He did a double take. It was definitely a surprise to see Eri in this neighborhood, not to mention she just came from Kogorou's office. It was almost as impossible to see a raven turn to white but here she was dressed casually in a yellow shirt and a pair of tight khakis, unlike from her usual business-like look, a dress shirt over a coat and penciled-skirt. He did not know what to think anymore. The events were just too fast and painful for him to comprehend.

"Kisaki-san?" Shinichi started in disbelief.

Rena looked from Eri to Shinichi and then back to Eri. "Okaasan, you know Shinichi-niichan?"

Shinichi swiftly turned his head to Rena. "O-Okaasan?" he stammered, his voice raising a pitch.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

"Eh?! You and Kogorou-ojisan are living together, again?" Shinichi exclaimed, abandoning his entire cool. Impossible. He wanted to add but decided it's best not to.

Kudo Shinichi and Kisaki Eri were gathered at the sitting room in Kogorou's office. Both sat across from each other; a steaming pot of tea was prepared on the table between them.

Eri just finished pouring tea on one cup and placed it in front of him. She gave out an amused smile to that.

"Sounds impossible, right?" she said as poured tea in another cup for herself and settled the pot on the center of the table. "Well, Kogorou and I decided it was about time for us to start all over again. Maybe Ran was right. We should give each other another chance." She brought the cup to her lips and made a sip. She brought the cup back on the table and gave out a sad smile before she continued, "I just feel bad now that Ran did not had the chance to witness this. She would have been so happy because all this time, she was always finding ways for us to get back together. I have a lot of regrets now."

Shinichi chose to say nothing and suddenly found the cup of tea he was holding very interesting. He agreed to what Eri had said. Ran would have been the happiest person right now if she was still alive. People really are complicated creatures. Unless someone or something's gone, that's the time they realize everything and start to fix things and there comes regret – regret for not realizing everything earlier. Sad to say, he was a victim to that too.

"But Kisaki-san," Shinichi said, his bangs was shadowing his eyes. "Ran may not be here but at least you've finally fulfilled one wish she had always wanted to come true. It may be too late for Ran but it's not yet too late for the both of you. I believe Ran's happy and contented with that."

Recognition glinted in Eri's eyes and she smiled again. "You're right, Shinichi-kun. Ran would not be in peace if she would just see her father drinking and throwing his life away now that she's not here anymore. I am the only one who can take care of him. This is the least I can do so Ran. We only have each other left. We can't afford to continue our childish war anymore, no?"

Haha, glad you've realized, Shinichi thought in humor.

"Kisaki-san, I'm curious about Rena-chan," Shinichi said, changing the subject.

"Oh. Well, let's just say she is an angel who dropped into our lives when everything was starting to crumble into pieces, giving us new found hope."

"Eh? You mean…"

"We adopted her from a friend of mine," Eri said. "She's not a replacement of Ran since no one can replace her. But she is the very person right now that's helping us to slowly move on."

With Shinichi's scrunched up expression, it was obvious that a lot of things was still very unclear to him.

"But she doesn't have any idea about this, right? Based from our earlier conversation, she does not seem to have any idea who Ran was."

Eri shook her head. "She actually knows everything. We decided to tell her so that the next time when someone comes up to her because they thought she was Ran, she would already know the reason why."

"Oh," was his only reply. That means she just did that earlier to comfort me? Shinichi pondered. And also she invited me here so I can talk with Kisaki-san?

"Kisaki-san, you still have not told me anything about Rena-chan," Shinichi said.

"You seem to be interested about Rena-chan. Is that because she looks a lot like Ran?"

Shinichi scratched his head as he let out a light laugh. "Well, maybe a bit."

"Well, I suppose I can tell you since you are Ran's childhood friend," Eri said after a few moments of consideration. "But let me warn you," she started, her face turned very serious or so turned started to turn scary. "Whatever I will tell you here, you can't tell Rena-chan anything, do you understand?"

Shinichi tried his best to suppress a shiver. "Aa. Got it."

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

Two pairs of footsteps were heard as Shinichi and Eri climbed the stairs that led to the apartment. Eri opened the door as they took the last step. They were met by a familiar aroma as they entered. Then, they heard some chopping from the kitchen.

"Rena-chan, what are you cooking? I can smell it from here and I bet it is delicious." Eri called out.

Shinichi saw Rena's head poking out from the kitchen. She smiled when she saw both of them and said, "You'll know later. This will be done soon. Please wait at the table." She disappeared in the kitchen again after saying this.

Shinichi turned to Eri in amusement. "Rena-chan knows how to cook?"

Eri smiled once again at his amusement. "Yes. She's only seven but she cooks really well." She turned his head to him. "Another similarity with Ran, is that what you are thinking?"

Shinichi did not answer but instead he averted his gaze to the table next to him. He was afraid that his voice might have abandoned him. He would have humored himself by thinking, 'At least I am not going to eat Kisaki-san's disastrous specialty.' But he decided it was not the best time and grief got the best of him once again.

Eri gazed sympathetically at Shinichi. She felt the same way too so she could not blame him.

"You can sit there Shinichi-kun while you wait," Eri offered, waving at the table next to them.

Shinichi nodded and proceeded to sit down before it while Eri proceeded to the kitchen to help Rena.

"Is Otousan eating here?" Rena asked as she placed the diced carrots in the stew and stirred it.

"Yes. He just called a while ago saying he will be here in an hour."

Rena clasped her hands in delight.

Eri took the bowl and proceeded to the sink to wash it.

"Oh, by the way, Okaasan, how's Shinichi-niichan feeling now?"

"I say you take a look to see it yourself."

Rena poked her head to have a glimpse of Shinichi in the dining area and she frowned with what she saw: Shinichi had his shoulders slumped forward and his eyes were staring blankly into space.

"Okaasan, can I do something to help, Shinichi-niichan?" Rena asked as she dropped the peas in the stew. "I'm really worried about him."

Eri smiled to that and said, "You really are one sweet girl, aren't you?" She tickled Rena on her side and the little girl let out a giggle.

"Well, all we can do now is just to be there for him though it still would not be enough. Ran's lost is much heavier for him than us since he is blaming himself in causing her death."

"Why?"

"Long story dear and I will tell you later but now, you want to know a way to help him, right?"

Rena nodded.

"Tomorrow's May 4 and it is Shinichi-kun's birthday. This will be his first time not celebrating it with Ran. Not to mention, he always forgets about it and Ran is always the first person who reminds him about it. You can start from there, Rena-chan."

"So May 4 is Shinichi-niichan's birthday," Rena muttered as she pondered what her first step will be. After a few moments, a knowing smile escaped her lips as a plan formed in her mind.

Tomorrow's going to be a long day.

_The next file will be delivered soon!_

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for reading! I'm quite about the next chapter because it will be Shinichi's birthday! But then, the next chapter might take a while since our semester break has come to an end and school will resume next week. On the contrary, if I get more reviews, I might reconsider and update next week. ^^**

**Sorry since this chapter is done quite in a hurry. I've been busy this week and I wanted to update today. Please tell me if you found any mistakes!**

'**Til next time!**

**November 2, 2012**


	6. File 6

**I'm so sorry for not updating for a month. I've been busy with school and all. **

**Thank you to those who took time to leave a review! I really can't express the happiness I feel whenever I receive reviews! *cyber cookies for everyone***

**Happy reading everyone!**

**FILE 6**

"William Shakespeare is an English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists. Hundreds of editions of his plays have been published…"

Kudo Shinichi yawned wide to start. He blinked back the tears brimmed his eyes because of it.

It was a bright Thursday morning. The first period had just started but Shinichi did not have the mood to listen at all. He took the book from his desk and looked at it blankly. Then, he placed it back down to cover his mouth with his palm as he let out another yawn. Bo-ring.

He leaned back on his chair and tried his best to peel his eyes open. He glanced at the people around him and noticed most number of students was not paying any attention at the lesson, too. Some were doodling on their notebooks while some were daydreaming, and a few were already fast asleep on their desks. It was amazing the teacher seemed not to notice them yet, he thought. She was probably too absorbed in what she was currently reading and sharing to the class. She had mentioned earlier that Shakespeare was her all-time favorite writer, after all.

He cannot sleep in class, again since he had been caught by the teacher yesterday. He shivered as he remembered the punishment he received from her. Let's not go into detail anymore, shall we? Remembering it was already horrible enough. The point was he could not afford to be seen by her dozing off, again.

Why can't she just discuss about mysteries instead? That would be a _lot_ more interesting. Right? _Right?_

He sighed. Oh well, he did not had any choice. Need to change tactic.

"Oi, Ran, don't…" he turned to his right and trailed off as he found the seat beside him which was once occupied by Mouri Ran empty.

His pupils dilated in recognition and his shoulders slowly slumped. He felt his heart drop and a familiar sensation stinging inside him as he came on life-streaming with memory lane.

He remembered those moments when Ran was sitting beside him during classes. He remembered those times when he fell asleep, she would always wake him up before the teacher would notice him. He remembered those times when she would scold him for not having enough sleep because he would sometimes solve a case overnight and only had four hours before the class starts and she would start calling him names like idiot-deduction freak or annoying detective nerd. He remembered those times when he would laugh at Ran for her bad English.

As he felt his whole body getting weak, he saw Ran slowly materialize at the seat beside him, book in hand and listening at the teacher intently. His lips twitched as his eyes sparkled knowingly and longingly. He slowly stretched out his hand to reach her, to touch her.

As he was reaching out, his pupils dilated.

He could not reach her.

No matter what strain he did to extend his arm, it yielded to no result. His heart raced inside him as he started to panic. She felt so close yet so far.

He tried again. There! His heart almost made a leap and a smile slowly reached his lips when he finally had successfully tapped her shoulder. She turned her head to him, slightly startled with a mix of confusion on her features. Not knowing what to say, he just let his tongue out at her in a wink, attempting to tease her. Instead of seeing her fuming face, she returned it with a giggle and that was the last thing he saw before she faded, leaving the desk empty once again.

His heart skipped a beat and his breathing hitched. He attempted to reach his hand out to her seat again when he stopped himself.

He heard his teacher's voice slicing in despite the ringing of his ears, a sign that he was back in reality, the sad reality.

He looked back at Ran's desk and unfortunately, still found it empty. He shifted his gaze at his palm. His gaze hardened as he slowly closed it to a fist. He clenched it as tightly as he could muster; draining all his blood away and turning it chalk white. He directed all his mixed up emotions to it. His breath started to get heavy as his heart wanted to cease from beating, all the desire to pulsate was washed away by the acid of the harsh reality. He closed his eyes as he tried to compose his cool. He felt so disoriented, not to mention seeing things in his own fantasy and it was frustrating.

Despite the calm façade he was imposing to the public, he was still definitely suffering. He always told people that he had moved, there's no need to worry and the like but deep down… he knows he still has not moved on yet. He did not know when and maybe never. He did not and would never share it to the public but he sometimes wished this was all just a dream. He always wished that Ran was still alive to be there for him – to support him and to hear all his bragging after solving a case.

But in spite of everything, he was also continually slapping himself with this one truth to stop all of his musings once and for all:

Ran's gone and she is never coming back.

It may be hard but he would continue to tell it to himself over and over again until he would be ready to face reality again.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

_Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!_

The bell finally rang, a sign that the classes for the day were over. The whole school was swarm by students as some attended their after-school practices for the athletes while some went to their respective clubs and the others who were not involved and not active in school, including Kudo Shinichi, proceeded to go home.

He gave out another wide yawn as he walked to exit the gates. He, then, proceeded to stretch out his arms as he turned to his left since that was the direction towards his house.

"Shinichi-niichan!"

Shinichi halted as his arms fell to his sides. The voice was familiar, he thought. He turned around and his eyes widened in surprise to see Tenshi Rena was running towards him.

"Rena-chan!" Shinichi started in surprise.

"Kon-ni-chi-wa!" she greeted in a smile as soon as she was directly in front of him.

He crouched down to be in eye-level with her. "Konnichiwa," he greeted back. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see you!" she replied.

He could not help but smile. "It's nice to see you, Rena-chan. So, Kisaki-san was the one who told you where I go to school, am I right?"

She nodded.

"As what I can see, you've already started school. Where do you go?"

She grabbed her backpack straps that were strapped on her shoulders before she replied, "Teitan Elementary School."

"Oh? I'm an alumnus there."

"Uh-huh. Okaasan also told me that."

He stood up and held his hand out to her. "Let's go? You want us to go home together, right?"

She slipped her hand on his as she shook her head which made the detective confused.

"Nope. I came here because I wanted to show you something."

"Eh? What is it that you want to show to me? It must really be something important since you really waited for me here when your dismissal should have been a few hours ago."

She placed a finger on her mouth and winked at him. "It's a secret. You'll know later. Let's go!"

She dragged the detective as she started to run at the opposite direction of their house. He did not have any choice but to follow her, or should we say, to be dragged by her. When did kids become so secretive?

They halted at the bus stop and waited for the bus to arrive.

He shifted his gaze to her and for some reason, she seemed to notice and turned to him and smiled at him. He smiled back at her. Besides, Shinichi felt so comfortable with her. He cannot explain it. He felt that he already knew her for years where in reality, they had just met.

Well, maybe a reason for that was because she looked so much similar with Ran. Also, the way they talk, they smile, and her attitude. It was so similar and it was getting scary. She's like a mini-Ran that had suddenly come to his life to fill the holes that Ran left.

The bus had finally arrived and they proceeded to enter it. The bus barely had seats available. There were a few high school students and elderly occupying the bus while there were mostly adults. They decided to take the rear seat.

As the bus started to run down the road to the opposite direction of Shinichi and Rena's house, Shinichi turned to the grinning and obviously excited Rena. Curious, he tried again, "Where are we going, Rena-chan?"

She turned to him and her grin not faltering while swinging her feet that were dangling in the air. "You don't need to worry, Shinichi-niichan. Today, I'll be leading the way and you just follow, okay?" Came her vague answer, much to Shinichi's inconvenience.

Need to change tactic, he thought.

Stating the obvious, he said, "You seem to be very excited, Rena-chan."

She turned to him and beamed. "Very much!" she replied. "Because today's a _very_ special day, isn't it Shinichi-niichan?"

He blinked in confusion and asked again, "What do you mean, Rena-chan? I thought you're going to show me something?"

"Just stop asking and trust me, okay Shinichi-niichan?" she said in a smile.

His eyes slightly widened, slightly taken aback by her. During these times, it was a wonder to him how Rena-chan, a seven-year old, could say things like those. It's like she was more mature than what she looks.

Not knowing what to say anymore, he nodded to that and turned to look out the window beside him. He was slightly irritated. Where the heck is this kid planning to go? And why wouldn't she tell me anything? After dragging me to come with her, she really had the nerve to still hide everything from me.

He sighed. He really wanted to go home and rest his body on that soft and warm bed of his. Those restless nights had finally got to him and he felt _very_ tired.

He sighed, again. Really, he had been doing it very often these days.

He sighed. See?

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He saw her looking outside the window at the other side and can hear her humming happily. He let out a light smile. Oh well. It's not going to hurt if he will just go with her, right? Maybe I should get some day out to get my mind off of some things even for just a while, especially with a cheerful little girl.

He turned his attention back outside. Then, he found himself looking at the plate numbers of the cars that came to his view. He was entertaining himself by looking at the numbers and matching them into words. Or it was more like exercising his brain through playing with the numbers.

He found a white sedan car with a plate number of 93-89 or read as kyu san hachi kyu. He instantly translated it to ku sa-ya kyu or baseball field.

Another was 48-64(yong hachi roku yong). He translated it to yo wa mu shi or weakling. After, he found a truck with the numbers 37-83 (san a ya san) and translated it to sakana-yasan.

He translated every plate number that came to his view with no effort or whatsoever. As expected with the famous high school detective Kudo Shinichi. He smiled as he was enjoying himself. He turned and reached out his hand to tap her shoulder and share it with Rena when suddenly unexpected memories came on rushing in his head once more.

He slowly lowered his hand as his smile faltered. His heart skipped a beat as his body tensed. He could feel his stomach churning as sadness but mostly guilt enveloped his entire being, again.

Not long ago, he remembered doing this with Ran. Not exactly with the same bus but they were also sitting at this exact spot.

He hang his head low and his bangs shadowed his eyes, his emotions that were boiling inside him non-stop. He knew Ran even before he learned how to write. He shared too many memories with her that he couldn't help to think of or do something where she would not flash in his mind.

Ran…

It's just not the same without her.

He was pulled back to reality when the bus abruptly halted, causing everyone and him to lean quite violently forward because of the inertia. Then, rumbles and complains of people surrounded the bus' atmosphere. Some started standing to know the reason of the sudden halting of the bus.

The ever-curious Shinichi, also, stood up as he saw the driver quickly standing up and exiting the bus. He looked quite horrified, Shinichi noticed.

He directed his gaze outside through the front windowpane which was directly in front of him. He was just right in time to see a man dressed in black overcoat and slacks, a top hat covering most of his face, blending with his dark skin color with a suitcase in hand, took a swift turn to turn his back from the bus and sprint to the busy streets, causing some cars stop violently to prevent from hitting him and roars of honking followed in protest.

"What's happening, Shinichi-niichan?" Rena asked, also standing up and looking out.

Her question went unheard when he was drowned in his own world. Shinichi's eyebrows furrowed more in curiosity than in confusion. He had a bad feeling. A sensation like a strangling in his chest, suffocating him like it always did at a time of crisis. It had always been a part of him even before he became a high school detective. And he found it quite handy.

Then a connection hit him, like a soccer ball hitting him squarely in the face. Short flashbacks of those men in black that he had encountered before appeared in his mind.

Stop being stupid, Kudo. Just because that man was also wearing black, you're now thinking so negatively of him?

But how would he explain that sudden feeling inside him – that detective's instinct? He could not understand and explain it but what he knew was that he needed to unravel the mystery that his instincts were throwing at him.

He was not able to catch the man's face but he saw the man still running straight away. Now's his chance.

"Shinichi-niichan?" Rena asked again, now looking up at him. He still was not able to answer her question.

"We need to get down the bus now, Rena-chan," Shinichi said, eyes still glued at the running man.

It caught her off-guard. "What?" she exclaimed. "But this is not our destination yet and it's still a few kilometers away from here."

"I know. But it's urgent. Let's go." As he said it, he started running towards the bus' door and Rena without any choice, followed him. As soon as they climbed out of the bus and stepped on the side road, Rena started protesting, again.

"I thought I'm the one who's going to be leading the way today?!" she said, clenching her fist in front of her, her eyes surfacing her deep disappointment.

A pang of guilt hit him but he had to do something about the bad feeling that's creeping inside him. What if it was a case? He would never forgive himself when he was already at reach but he still let it go and something horrible would happen. But then, he could not leave Rena here, especially alone. She just a kid, a seven year old and a girl. He also would not forgive himself if something would happen to the little girl. But…

He looked up and was just in time to see the man turning at a corner good meters away. He did not have much time. If he would stay here much longer, he will lose him. He had to make a choice. He internally sighed. That's why he did not want to go out with kids alone.

He crouched down in front of her and placed both of his hands on either of her shoulders as he started explaining everything in a soft voice. "Listen to me, Rena-chan. I need to go somewhere." He raised his hand to stop Rena from starting. "Let me finish first. I'm sorry, Rena-chan. It's just…urgent." He pointed at the pastry shop that was right behind them. "I want you to wait for me in there, alright? I just need to check on something. I can't promise you anything yet. If I can't come back right away, I'll call you. You have your cell phone there right? But let's just hope my hunch is wrong so we can continue to our destination, do we have a deal, Rena-chan?

Her shoulders slumped as she looked at him with glassy eyes. She didn't even try hiding her disappointment which made Shinichi's guilt rose – big time.

This was not getting easy.

"Please Rena-chan? You have to understand." It's not like him to plead. If that was the case, he would already have left, with or without one's consent but he had a soft spot for the little girl that he could not help leaving her behind like that. Not again, just like what he had done with Ran. He's not going to commit the same mistakes. Again.

She slowly nodded as she saw the urgency in Shinichi's voice and at the same time, the empathy.

He let out a small smile and stood up. "Stay here so I know you are safe, okay?" He turned and made a beeline sprint towards the alley that the man entered.

Rena continued to watch his back until he disappeared as he turned at the corner to enter an alley as she remembered what Eri said to her.

_Eri crouched down and held up a finger as she winked at her. "But beware Rena-chan. Shinichi-kun seems to be a case magnet. Wherever he goes, whenever it is and whatever he is doing, a case seems to be happening when he is around. Even I could not explain it but that just happens every time. Ran told me all about it that's why I know. So don't be disappointed if everything would not go according to what you have planned, okay?"_

She sighed. Okaasan was right, she thought. When she thought everything was already starting out smoothly, we bump to this. Talk about luck.

She turned dejectedly to the shop behind her and proceeded to enter it with her high spirits before were now dropped low.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

With Shinichi's experience of playing soccer, a mid-fielder to be exact, he was able to catch up with the man in black quite fast but he still maintained a few meters of distance away from the man. He could not manage to get caught.

The man turned corner after corner like they were running in a maze. It was just a matter of time until Shinichi noticed they were already at the quiet side of the city. The loud roar of traffic was now very faint and wind seemed to be flowing freely here. That just slowly confirmed Shinichi's suspicions that something was really up.

By the time the both of them had finally stopped, they were catching their breaths quite hard. The man stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse while Shinichi continued to spy the man at a corner a few meters away. The place was already quite secluded. Houses and buildings as what he could estimate were a good five hundred meters away from here and he could only barely hear the traffic of the busy streets of Tokyo.

'A warehouse? Does that mean…?'

The man cautiously opened the door and before he entered it, he swiftly turned his head. Shinichi managed to stagger back at the corner he was hiding as he was quite surprised of the man's sudden action since throughout the chase, the man did not spare a chance to look around him and with that, Shinichi had formed quite an impression.

'Maybe he was not as insensitive as I've thought he was,' Shinichi thought.

Shinichi risked a peek after a few seconds later and when he did, the man was already gone but he did not stretched his luck further by revealing himself just yet. He took the liberty to look around him in case there was someone watching over it. Well, he did not need to do much checking since there were no buildings around him other than the warehouse and there were only a few trees. When he had convinced himself that the cost was clear, he proceeded to near the warehouse.

Shinichi grinned as he noticed luck seemed to be on his side today when he saw the gate of the warehouse was slightly ajar. He peeked through the opening but careful not to expose himself.

The huge warehouse had a fair amount of rusty metallic chairs and tables scattered here and there. Some boxes with who knows what they were filled with. What he saw next made his heart skip a beat as he saw a woman in her early thirties and a little girl sprawled on the floor, their whole body tied uncomfortably with ropes and their eyes and mouths covered from view.

A kidnapping.

Then, he saw the man he had pursued standing at the middle with his back at Shinichi. He saw the man opening the case full of money at the other three men in front of him who were also in black.

Black.

Shinichi's heart pounded in frustration and in anger as he pictured those other two men in black, Gin and Vodka, who killed his one and only childhood friend and love, Ran. His fist tightened as his emotions started boiling inside him.

"This is all the money – fifty million yen," the pursued man informed.

He saw the other man smiling and replied, "Very well. But first, we have to check if those are real and then, we should count them to make sure the amount is exact."

"What should we do with these people?"

"Let's not kill them just yet. If we would want an additional, we can still use them." He shifted his cold and metallic gaze at the hostages and Shinichi followed his gaze and he saw the little girl shaking helplessly on the floor and the mother, Shinichi claimed, tried her best to comfort her by caressing her head against the little girl's head. He could faintly hear the little girl's stifled cry and the woman's shushing.

Shinichi peeled his eyes off the opening and started to think of what to do. He found those kidnappers quite unconventional. Most kidnappers would not spare themselves more time by the time they get their money. After, they would either return the hostages or kill them off and leave before anyone would notice them. So, that means, they were very confident that the hostage's family did not inform anyone, not even the police. So, there's another accomplice.

Well, that's good, Shinichi thought. That would buy some time for the police to arrive before the hostages would be killed.

So first thing he should do was to call the police and inform them. He could not enter there alone. It's too dangerous. There were four of them and only one of him. He could not take them all. Then, call Rena-chan to break the news of the postponement of their trip. And lastly, call Kisaki-san to pick Rena-chan up.

He snatched his cell phone from his pocket. He flipped it open and was just about to dial 110 when he saw something shift in front of him.

He immediately looked up as he felt his heart pounding inside him. Could it be the accomplice?

But what he saw was much worse, he saw Rena running towards him. He had to try all his might not to shout at the little girl's stupidity. He could not spare for anyone to hear them. Not now since he was already close to catching the kidnappers.

He caught up with her at midway and before she could call him, he clasped her mouth with his free hand and that made the little girl look at him in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Sshh. We have to be quiet, Rena-chan," Shinichi whispered in her ear as he uncovered Rena's mouth.

"What's going on, Shinichi-niichan?"

"I should be the one asking _that _question. What's going on, Rena-chan? I thought we've already made ourselves clear?" Shinichi asked his eyes hard on her and his eyebrows furrowed in disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Shinichi-niichan," Rena said quietly as she bowed her head guiltily. "It's just that… I got worried and I could not help following you."

So a kid thinks she could protect an adult where she even could not protect herself? Shinichi thought in frustration. Why don't just kids listen to what the older people tell them? Do they really think they know better than them?

"How did you…?" he left his question hanging as he realized he could not waste any more time. The clock was ticking and the lives of the hostages were in his hands. Besides, there's no point in scolding Rena. She's already here and he could do nothing about it. Also, she's safe. That's what matters for now.

"Rena-chan, there's a kidnapping." A gasp and he continued. "The hostages and the kidnappers are inside that warehouse. It's dangerous here so you have to go back. I'll be calling Kisaki-san to pick you up."

"But I want to help you!"

"NO," Shinichi exclaimed in a high whisper. Realizing his mistake since he was getting noisy, he controlled himself and said after calming himself down. "Listen, Rena-chan, if you want to help me, be a good girl and go back to the pastry shop, okay?"

"But-!"

"Please, Rena-chan. Do this for me."

She sighed in defeat before nodding. "Okay. But make sure not to hurt yourself, okay?"

Shinichi smiled at her and nodded. "Of course I will. Now, go. Go." Shinichi said, pushing her to the direction opposite of the warehouse. Rena hesitantly walked, turning from time to time. Shinichi continued to nod and smile at her to reassure her.

Shinichi finally released the breath he was holding when Rena finally disappeared from his view. He would not know what to do when the kidnappers would get a hold of Rena.

Getting back to business, he barely had the time to look at his cell phone when he heard a man's voice, cold as steel saying,

"Game's over, tantei-san."

His eyes widened as his head cocked upward. His heart dropped and he felt every nerve in his body getting weak as he saw the horrible scene that he was trying to avoid all this time in front of him.

A different man in black had his arms around Rena, lifting her in the air while his free hand had a gun pointed directly at Rena's temple.

For the first time in his whole detective life so far, he felt cornered.

_The next file will be delivered soon!_

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for reading everyone!**

**So what do you think about this chapter? Please don't forget to leave me reviews! I don't mind constructive criticisms as long as it would be good for my writing.**

**My exams will be next, next week. So, yeah, my next update would again take a while. I hope you would all bear with me!**

**December 1, 2012**


	7. File 7

**I know it's already **_**horribly **_**late but I still want to greet a Happy New Year, to everyone! ^^ Goodbye 2012 and hello 2013!**

**Another year has passed. It had been a memorable year with all of you since last year was the first publication of this fic. Thank you for all the support guys! I hope this 2013, you'd still be with me. Once again, thank you! I love you all! Mwaah! 3**

**Happy reading everyone!**

**FILE 7**

"Game's over, Tantei-san."

Shinichi froze, his body stiffing at the sudden action. He knew one wrong move would be fatal. A person was held hostage at gunpoint under his mercy. It's not only that, the hostage was a child. Despite his over a year of experience in being a detective, this was the first time for him to be under this kind of situation. How could it be? He always worked alone and he was too proud to be working with a partner. Besides, he did not need any help from anyone anyway. He was only a detective and not a police officer or anything. His line of work was only limited to solving the mystery behind a case, gather evidence that would be essential to the case and corner the culprits with his deductions. That simple. Anything beyond that scope had nothing to do with him anymore.

Sure, the culprits he would corner would sometimes try to escape and would do things anyone would not imagine but the police was always there to take care of the culprit. Or at other times, he would use his soccer skills and kicked anything that was at his reach to stop the culprit.

_Calm down, Kudo._

He felt his heart hammering inside him and his gut was churning. He felt nervous, no – scared.

_You need to keep your cool, Kudo._

He took a deep breath to calm himself. It actually worked. His heart beat slowly went back to its normal rate and felt his gut calming.

Rena was just an innocent child. She still could not handle herself. He's alone with this one. No police. No one. Just him.

His keen eyes started to roam as his mind was absorbing everything that was being registered to it. To start, he observed the culprit in front of him. He was tall and huge. Maybe around 6'3" in height and more than 250 pounds in weight. He was wearing a black coat over a black dress shirt and black slacks and black shoes.

_Was the color black at trend? _He wondered._ Most culprits wear them. I understand their use during the night but during broad daylight? Didn't they know it just made them look more suspicious?_

He could not see clearly the man's face since it was shadowed by his hat but he could see his cold and malicious grin that made his blood boil.

The man was holding Rena with his left and had his gun pointed directly on her temple with his right. Rena was completely still in his hold. She was sweating and had her terrified eyes planted on him. He could see her paling every second but despite that, her eyes were talking to him, saying that she trusted him that they could get out of this mess. He did not respond; just being cautious.

He shifted his attention to his surroundings. He did not see anyone observing near and afar. His accomplices did not even come out to join him. That means he did not notified them and he was alone. Good.

Then, he inserted his right hand in his pocket. Everything's set. He had formulated a plan and a back-up just in case something went wrong since this might be quite risky. He just needed to drag this as long as possible to give him enough time. But he still hoped everything would go smoothly with his first plan. He could not afford to make mistakes here. It's not only Rena's life was at stake, but also of the two hostages inside the warehouse.

"You're Kudo Shinichi, right?" he asked in his deep and cold voice.

He smirked at him. "Am I that famous already for you to recognize me so effortlessly?" He needed to act cocky and turn in circles if he wanted to drag this conversation.

"Of course. Who would not know the famous high school detective that everyone's so crazy of and the so-called 'Savior of the Police'?"

"You flatter me."

He let out a fit of laughter before he replied, "Oh, don't be. After all, you won't last long. I'm afraid you already know everything."

He shrugged. "There's no point in denying it."

"If that's the case," He pushed Rena tighter to his body as he pushed the barrel to her temple and she let out a whimper. "We're going to end everything here. You are a threat to us." He threatened to pull the trigger and Rena prepared herself by closing her eyes when Shinichi interrupted.

"Why aren't you starting with me?" The man in black looked up, relaxing his finger on the trigger. "You just said I'm a threat, right?"

"Both of you are threats to us. You've seen the faces of my colleagues, you know the situation and told her about it, and the both of you saw my face."

"But I'm still the greater threat, right? Rena-chan only knows that there is a kidnapping but I'm the one who saw the real situation that inside that warehouse there are two hostages, a primary school girl and her mother, and two of your colleagues, guarding them."

He glared at him suspiciously and pointed his gun at him. "What are you playing at, detective?"

He raised his eyebrows and looked at him innocently. "Playing?" He tilted his head to the side. "Who says I'm playing?"

"I know that style, detective. It's a really old trick. You're leaking information somewhere. Let's say to the police?"

His eyes dilated slightly and sweat started to form on his forehead. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Stuttering now? For a famous detective, you're a pretty bad liar."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Still trying so hard to act tough, aren't we? If I'm wrong, why don't you take out your hand from your pocket and show the contents of it?"

It's his turn to glare at him.

"Not so cocky now, huh, detective? Am I right on the mark?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, collecting himself before he opened them again. "Alright. You win." He took his hand that was holding his cell phone out from his pocket. The screen showed that it was currently connected in a call and the caller ID showed it was Inspector Megure.

The man in black laughed in triumph. "You're not as smart as I've originally thought you were. Do you really think such a petty trick would pass through me? Anyway, who would've thought I would be the one who's going to kill the great high school detective Kudo Shinichi and it would really be in the presence of the police even though it is indirect? Such an honor." He steadied his finger on the trigger and Rena started to panic. She flashed Shinichi a panic look but his face remained blank.

"Do you have any last words, Meitantei?"

"The police will surely catch you."

He let out another laugh. "You really amuse me. I admire your strong sense of justice too bad this will be the last time that you can display it in public." His finger on the trigger threatened to pull it. "Goodbye, the great high school detective Kudo Shinichi."

His finger slowly pulled the trigger but Shinichi just continued to stand still, glaring at the gun in front of him, as if anticipating for the moment for him to be killed.

"KYAA!"

He heard Rena's shout and the man's attention was immediately turned to her as she started to struggle on his hold for the first time but his gun remained pointed at him.

"Oi! What are you doing, you brat?!"

His eyes sparkled as his eyebrows creased along with his trademark arrogant smile that said he already had foreseen everything.

_Now's my chance!_

He stretched out his right leg behind him, preparing it for a full kick. He dropped his cell phone in front of him and moved his leg to kick it with all his strength. As soon as it made contact with his well-developed soccer feet, it immediately flew in an incredible speed and as what he had calculated; it hit the man's hand with the gun which he immediately let go. A clang of metal and another different clang were heard as the gun and cell phone hit the cemented floor. Shocked, the man spared a glance at his bruised and numbed hand. Man, it hurt and it's definitely going to bruise!

He needed to do his next move. He stretched out his leg behind him one more time and dropped his satchel. He prepared himself for another full kick but the satchel already hit the ground and he only kicked the air in front of him quite clumsily, he almost lost his footing at his action. What made the star player Kudo Shinichi miss? He was just suddenly dazed at what he saw in front of him:

Rena took advantage of the situation and the man's still stunned state. She made a back-kick for the man's stomach. It must have been strong since the man let out a groan and arched forward. Then, she elbowed the man's jaw and the man staggered back. The man's hold on her loosened and she grabbed the man's arm to turn and face him. Shinichi swore he would never forget her next action. She grabbed his shoulder to haul herself up. She used his arm to place her feet onto something as she tried to reach for his back. Then, she raised her hand and made a hard karate chop at the back of his neck. The man's eyes immediately rolled back. She jumped down with grace before he had collapsed on the ground hard – completely unconscious.

Shinichi had his jaw-hung open in complete disbelief and shock. Who would have thought the ever sweet and nice Rena-chan was capable of doing that? For Shinichi, she's just an innocent seven year old! A child! What she did was really unbelievable! She really knew where to hit, especially that final blow. How on earth did she know about the weak point at the back of the neck? But what disturbed him the most was it reminded him of… Ran.

Those moves… It was definitely Karate.

Another similarity with Ran, again.

_What's going on?_

He was starting to be terribly confused. _Is it just another mere coincidence? Isn't this a little bit too much? _

He was pulled back to reality when he felt a tug at the side of his pants. He looked down and saw Rena-chan had her big and innocent eyes together with her sweet smile on him.

He crouched down and placed both of his hands on either of her shoulders. "Are you alright, Rena-chan? Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked worriedly as he shifted his gaze from head to toe, studying her, his soft side for her kicking in. He decided to push the thought away – for now. Now's not the time for it.

She nodded in a smile.

"Are you sure? I understand what he did earlier was not pleasant." His eyes hardened again. "Now, do you already understand why I told you to stay at the pastry shop?" he reprimanded, his tone raising. "It was for your own safety! Look where you got yourself into! What do you feel? And-"

He was cut off of his scolding as Rena suddenly hugged him. He was left speechless once again.

_Sometimes, this kid really knows what to do_, Shinichi thought.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Shinichi-niichan. I promise, I won't do it again."

He pulled them apart. He was still looking hard at her. "You promise?"

She raised her right hand. "Promise."

He sighed, finally buying her words. "Alright, then. Since you've promised, you should follow everything I'm going to say, okay?"

She nodded.

"I'm going to borrow your phone for a while to call Megure-keibu. And while I'm on it," he pointed at a tree a bit far from where they are right now. "You hide behind that tree and never, I'm going to repeat it, _never_ run off from there until I tell you, okay?"

"Got it, Shinichi-niichan." She took her cell phone out from her pocket and handed it to Shinichi.

Shinichi took it from her. "I'm counting on you, then."

She gave him one last smile and told him, "Be careful," before she ran to the tree that Shinichi pointed. By the time he saw her hiding successfully behind the tree; he flipped her cell phone open and dialed Megure-keibu's number.

"Hello, Meigure-keibu? This is Kudo." Shinichi said after the other line had been answered.

"_Kudo-kun!"_ Megure-keibu's voice was heard at the other line, his tone filled with recognition and relief._ "Are you okay? What happened back there, Kudo-kun? The line was suddenly cut." _

"Oh, hehehe… Sorry about that. It was part of my plan to kick my cell phone to drop his gun. I'm currently borrowing Rena-chan's cell phone."

"_Who's Rena-chan?"_

"I think now's not the time for that, Keibu."

"_Oh, right, right. I've heard everything. Though there are still some things that we are still at the dark, we're already on our way since we believe you can be trusted. We were able to trace the call since you've dragged it long enough. You better explain to me everything later, Kudo-kun."_

After a few minutes, thanks to Shinichi's cleverness, the police arrived and the kidnappers were caught and the hostages were saved without further harm. The police did not have any idea about the kidnapping because, as expected, they were not informed by the family. The hostages were part of the Tsubasa family, the owner of the biggest modeling agency in the country. And the kidnappers were one of the most wanted kidnappers of the police during that time. They already had a record of five kidnappings and were known to kill their hostages after they have received the ransom.

Then, Megure-keibu hotheadedly asked an explanation from Shinichi. After hearing everything from him, the matter was settled calmly and thus, another case was closed without anyone harmed.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

Shinichi and Rena descended the short flight of stairs that led to the police quarters, hand in hand. They had just finished their interrogation and it was already starting to get dark outside. They stopped as they reached the flat surface.

"I'm just wondering what that box you're holding is?" Shinichi said, looking down at her and pointing at the box that Rena was currently carrying. "You did not have it before with you."

"Oh, this?" she said, looking down at the box with a dimension of 8"x6" and then looked back up at him with a knowing grin on her face. "Just a little something."

"Well, then, I'm going to bring you home now, okay? I'm sure you're tired after everything we did."

"But we still haven't gone to the place that we should go yet."

"Oh." He scratched his cheek with his forefinger. "Well, maybe we can do it tomorrow then? It's already getting dark. Kisaki-san may be getting worried."

She shook her head. "It's alright. I've already called her and she said it's alright."

"She did?"

"Yup! Besides, everything would be meaningless if we would do it tomorrow."

He blinked. _Meaningless? How come? What did she mean?_

He felt his hand being pulled.

"Let's go, Shinichi-niichan! The bus for that place is this way!"

He sighed as he allowed himself to be dragged by Rena once again. What she said indeed bothered him but all of his will to argue was drained so he just pushed it aside.

_A stubborn kid like her could not be stopped since she had obviously made up her mind and it won't be changed soon. So, why bother? Just a waste of energy. And maybe I would finally get a time-out? Maybe this would be fun? Or maybe not?_

Another sigh. _Whatever it is, I hope this would be over soon. I really need my bed. I'm not a kid anymore that has unlimited energy._

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

Kudo Shinichi's body went stiff and cold as he found himself standing in front of Tropical Land's entrance. With widened eyes, he gazed around the place as memories came crashing on him – his last time together with Ran.

_Of all places, why does it have to be here?! _

Desperation could be seen in his features at the moment. He wanted to run away. He was not ready. He could not face the place where everything started. But how could he do that if he felt his hand being pulled, again?

"Let's go inside, Shinichi-niichan!" Rena exclaimed in a grin.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

He felt his body getting weak and his knees giving up on him as they continued inside of Tropical Land. What gave him the strength to keep on walking was Rena's constant dragging to where Shinichi did not know.

He narrowed his eyes and smirked. _For a little girl, she's quite strong to be able to drag me._

They passed by the fountain where the water would explode every two hours. He remembered that he had dragged Ran so they would stand at the middle of it. He meant it as his gift for her for winning the Karate Tournament.

He let out a bitter smile. He still could vividly remember Ran's reaction as soon as the water exploded around them, one after another. Her angelic face was lightening up. Her bright lavender eyes studied her surroundings, taking in everything. And her lips were opened wide in amazement. While she was still caught up at the amazement, he just had his eyes on her. For him, there's nothing more beautiful than to see her happy. No, it was an understatement. To see her happy meant the world to him, though he won't say it even anyone would try to pry his mouth open.

But now she's gone and there's no way he would be able to see it anymore…

He looked at his watch. It was 6:20. There's still forty minutes before the amazing sight.

They next passed by the Mystery Coaster ride. It was the last ride he and Ran took during their, well, uh, day out. He remembered the whole day he just talked about both Sherlock Holmes, his number one detective role model and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the writer. He remembered he was about to confess his feelings to Ran. Not directly maybe. And not the way anyone would have expected. It was by the time they rode the car, he attempted to talk about them again when Ran suddenly yelled at him in annoyance about not caring anything about Holmes or Conan Doyle and even called him Detective Nerd which made him suddenly silent. Then, she tilted her head forward and said with eyes full of disappointment and betrayal,

"_**I was hoping for a day out with Shinichi. Why don't you understand my feelings?"**_

Shinichi was suddenly taken aback by what she exhibited. Suddenly filling with guilt, he opened his mouth to tell her about his true feelings when she suddenly laughed and shot back while elbowing him,

"_**Baka! What are you nervous about? You should know I'm only pretending! If you fell so easily, how would you be a detective?"**_

Like that. But everyone knew better it was real than anything but him.

He narrowed his eyes as he remembered her exact words. _So much for confessing._

After that time, confessing never crossed his mind again.

_Heck, she would just laugh at me or even reject me._

Sure, he was a show-off but when it came to telling his true feelings for Ran, he would always think twice and would just choose to hide it. He was a man and he was afraid of rejection!

However now, looking back, he regretted not telling her, after all.

Then, they passed by the alley where he followed a suspicious man in black whom they had rode together in the Mystery Coaster ride and left Ran alone and told her to go home ahead without him. During that time, he had stopped in his tracks and Rena, who was dragging him up to this point had finally found it hard to pull him to go with her and stopped, too. Confused, she looked back at him and her eyes widened.

He just stood there; his body was stiff and cold. His eyes were dull and were directed at somewhere. Rena followed his line of vision and saw an alley. Her eyebrows rose in worry and her eyes shone in complete concern. Eri had told her everything and she understood what was running through his mind right now.

All of Shinichi's energy had drained. He felt guilty and angry with himself, so angry that he was not able to contain it anymore. His body betrayed him as he felt it shook slightly in rage. He tilted his head backward and closed his eyes as it started to sting. He balled his hands to fists.

Oh, if he just had the ability to turn back the time; he would do it right now. he wanted to turn back to the time when he left Ran alone. If he did that, any of this would not have happened.

His fists shook and the color drained as he clenched it tighter. He kicked the ground it frustration.

_Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!_

He was cut off of his thoughts when he felt something warm and soft hold his cold fist. His eyes immediately shot open and his head shifted to look at his hand.

It was Rena's hand.

He shifted his gaze to Rena and saw she was looking tenderly at him.

"I may not know how you feel right now but I understand," Rena said.

Shinichi just stared at her in confusion. "Understand?" he asked, his voice rose. His eyes hardened and all of the mixed emotions that he was keeping inside him were seen: anger, bitterness, frustration and desperation. "Why didn't you tell me that we were going here?! " He was shouting now. "That's why you kept everything from me! You knew that this was the last place that I and Ran went but you still dragged me here! How the hell can a seven year old like you understand me?!"

She tightened her hold at his still clenched fists. He saw her immediately tensing and her head bowed, shadowing her face. His anger was immediately replaced by regret for suddenly shouting at her like that.

"Rena-chan…"

"I know it hurts, Shinichi-niichan," she interrupted, her head still bowed. "But just bear with it a little longer, okay? We did not come here for you to contemplate for what happened to you a week ago but for another reason."

He was speechless. He took back whatever he said. _How can a child like her talk like that?_

She placed her other hand on his same fist and he turned his gaze to his still tensed fist and returned his gaze to her.

She met his eyes and gave him a meaningful look. "Just a little longer, okay Shinichi-niichan?"

Shinichi's eyes slowly widened at the look she gave him. It obviously meant something. Something that he did not understand yet and was still needed to be found out. And that look, also, calmed him down. He could not explain it but he just found himself relaxing and his fist lost its grip.

Rena noticed and she gave him a light smile. "Let's go on?"

He did not know what to say so he just nodded to that and allowed himself to be dragged by Rena once again but this time he had surrendered himself willingly. There was something about what she said, especially the look she gave him that piqued his curiosity. He just suddenly shouted at her without knowing her reason yet. She definitely had a special reason and he wanted to find it out.

After several more paces, he found himself and Rena in front of the Ferris wheel. Rena approached the operator while he looked around. True, there were fewer people than usual since it was a school day but it was certainly odd that the Ferris wheel had no one around. It looked deserted.

_Is it out of service? No, I don't think so. The lights around it are lit and it looks fine. And there's an operator. No one's interested? That seems odd or impossible. There should be at least one or two who would be interested. So, what then?_

He saw Rena running back at him and said as she stopped in front of him, "Everything's set. Let's get in, Shinichi-niichan."

"Everything's set? What do you mean by that? Besides, it seems to be out of service since it seems to be deserted."

"No worries," she reassured. "It was made this way especially for us."

"Eh?"

"I've asked a favor from a classmate of mine who is the grandson of the owner of Tropical Land. Then, I was summoned by his grandfather because he wanted to hear my reason personally. When he heard my reason involved the great high school detective Kudo Shinichi, he was more than happy to grant my favor. After all, he was grateful to you for immediately solving a murder case that happened a week ago that did not terminate the operation of the ride longer. So, right now, we basically have rented the Ferris wheel for thirty minutes!"

He was dumbfounded by her revelation. "What?" he blurted out. "W-why?"

"You'll know later. Let's go!" She took his hand and took the honor to drag him, again.

The operator opened the gondola for them and they climbed in and sat. After they had made themselves comfortable, he closed it and proceeded to start the ride. As soon as the wheel started moving, he heard Rena was giggling in delight. He smiled. She looked adorable while swinging her feet which were dangling in the air and her head turned from left to right as she admired the view in the air.

The ride suddenly stopped.

"What? Did something happen?"

Confused, Shinichi stood up and looked down. He realized they were at the highest point of the ride. His earlier concern was forgotten as he saw how breath-taking the view was. He could see the whole Tropical Land at this point.

"Rena-chan, look at-"

"Happy birthday, Shinichi-niichan."

His head jolted upright and his body went rigid.

_Birth…day?_

He turned around and his eyes widened by what he saw. Rena was holding out a small round cake in front of her. She was looking up at him with sparkling eyes with a wide smile.

_Today's… May 4__th__?_

She seemed to notice the uncertainty in his features since she let out a chuckle which made him more confused.

"Okaasan's right."

"Eh?"

"Somehow, you always tend to forget birthdays, especially your own." She let out another chuckle. "I just find it funny. You can remember all sorts of things and other dates but this."

Despite the moment, Shinichi had managed to narrow his eyes in annoyance.

_Ha. Ha. Sorry about that, then._

He returned his gaze to the cake. A candle was lit at the middle and a "Happy Birthday, Shinichi-niichan" was written on it. His attention was shifted back to her as he heard her started singing, "Happy birthday, Shinichi-niichan! Happy birthday, Shinichi-niichan! Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Happy birthday, Shinichi-niichan~!"

He felt his heart constrict inside him. Because of what she did, his longing for Ran became stronger. That's why he felt something was missing that day. At the same time, that's why he missed Ran all the more. She was always the one who reminded him of his birthday. She would always surprise him like this and then, they would celebrate his birthday for the day. They always had loads of fun.

He suddenly felt melancholic. This was his first birthday without Ran. For a single day, he never thought of ever celebrating his birthday without his childhood friend. He was used to getting reminded by her that he really never made an effort to remember his birthday.

But he still forced out a smile as he crouched down in front of her. He needed to set his feelings aside for now. Rena-chan made a huge effort to make him happy and fulfill Ran's role. Deep inside him he really appreciated what she did though he could not hide the fact that it made his feelings heavy to bear. However, he did not want to disappoint Rena-chan, too and his will to let Rena-chan feel appreciated was his priority right now.

"You want me to make a wish before I blow the candle, right?"

She nodded. "Yup! But before you do that-"

Shinichi raised his eyebrows in amusement as he saw Rena placing the cake on the bench and she turned back to him. "-I want you to do something first."

"Is that the reason why you found it necessary to ride the Ferris wheel and most of all, borrowed it?"

"That's right!" She gazed at the sky above her and she seemed to search it for something. Her eyes brightened when she found what she was looking for and said, "I want you to look at the sky, Shinichi-niichan."

He did what he was told and she continued, "Do you see that largest star?"

He searched the sky and found it right away. It was a rare sight. While the other stars seemed to be so far away, that star seemed to be so noticeable and so near, like it could be reached when he would try to extend his hand but he knew it was crazy and too impossible so he immediately dismissed the thought.

"Yes, I see it."

"Have you heard it, Shinichi-niichan? Some people say when people died, they become stars and occupy the sky, guiding and watching the people they cared and loved."

He turned his gaze to Rena-chan. He was surprised. Definitely surprised.

_How…? Don't tell me…_

"Though honestly, I don't believe in that since according to science stars are massive shining spheres of hot gas but an idea crossed my mind. Let's say that huge star is Ran-neechan."

She met his gaze. "What do you want to tell her? I know you have a lot. Now is the right time to tell her the things you did not had the chance to tell her before. You can shout it out, if you want." She spread her hands. "After all, we have the whole Ferris wheel for ourselves."

At this moment, he felt something within him snap. She was right. He had a lot of things to tell her but… he did not know where to start anymore. He looked uncertainly at her. He did not know if he can do this.

"Rena-chan… I-I don't know about this…"

"I may not understand fully what you are going through right now Shinichi-niichan but I believe we're going through in a very similar situation."

His eyes widened. "You mean you knew…"

She nodded lightly. "There's no other conclusion to it. After I woke up from my unconsciousness, I've never seen my parents and not only that; I was adopted by another couple. I could not draw any other conclusion from it aside from the fact that my parents are already dead." She drew in a long breath, trying to steady and will herself not to cry. She knew she had to stay strong for him. The reason they were here was not because of her but for him. "I would be lying if I said it does not bother me. Honestly, I do not know what to feel. I still cannot remember anything and whenever I try, I hurt myself. What everyone said was right; I should not force my memories to come back. I should learn to wait. But I still feel bothered and I cannot sleep well every single night. I think you're still very lucky, Shinichi-niichan." She met his eyes and he could feel the contrasting emotions lurking within her: sadness, disappointment, warmth and full of hope.

"All the wonderful memories that you and Ran-neechan shared are still with you. The good times and the bad times. You still could remember every single detail about her. Everything about her. You still could feel the emotions that the both of you shared."

"It's not as great as you think it is, Rena-chan."

"It may not be but you have something to treasure the very least when you compare it with my situation. It's much better to feel pain and suffering than to feel nothing. That's because we love, right Shinichi-niichan?"

He tensed. He immediately averted his gaze as he felt the familiar feeling boiling inside him. He had to admit, her last statement hit him – hard. All this time, he had been lurking into despair. It was just normal when someone so dear to you died. But what was not normal was when he started to run away from the reality. He wanted to forget everything that had happened the past week. He wanted to forget Ran. Instead of treasuring Ran's memories, he had wanted to throw it all away.

What was the reason?

It was all because of his pride and ego.

It was selfish, he knew. But he could not help it. He was a man and he hated to feel so weak and… vulnerable. It was the worst feeling that every man would experience. But now he was given another chance, another chance to change everything and do things right. It was time. Time to let go. Time to let go of everything and accept reality. Time to let go of Ran but still treasure all the memories they had shared. It's time to put to place an end to their series. Now he had been given the chance and he would make sure it would be something he would never regret in his entire life.

He turned his attention back to the sky and he did not need to search for the huge star again because the moment he lifted his eyes, he immediately saw it. He did not understand it. It was just an ordinary star, just like the thousand others around it but for him it was the only star he could see. It was the only star who had pulled for his attention and he did not disappoint it.

That star really was like Ran. No matter how many girls would try to get his attention, he could only see Ran – no one else but her, only her. He did not even understand it at first. He just thought maybe because they were childhood friends and he was just comfortable being around her. He could be himself whenever he wanted to. No one would judge him because he knew she was the only one who understood him. As time went by, he slowly realized whatever he was feeling was not normal anymore. It was something more than just simply being comfortable around her. He had realized he could not go through a day without her by his side or even without hearing her voice.

He could not live without her.

He felt his heart race and suddenly found his lungs suffocating. His vision of the brightest star he had ever seen blurred as his eyes started to water.

_Rena-chan's right. What if that huge star was Ran, is she guiding me? Or did she despise and curse me, too, for leading to her death just like everyone else did?_

He contemplated on that thought for a moment and then, shook his head, opposing the debates of his mind.

He knew Ran had a big and soft heart and could not come to get angry at people and that's what made him feel guiltier. It's his entire fault why Ran died and a lot of people are sad and he could not do anything to atone for it.

He tried to hold his breath to stop himself from crying but it was useless. Tears flowed freely from his eyes despite every objection from the owner.

He closed his eyes as he suddenly found it hard to look at it straight and another set of tears flowed down. Pain, despair and regret could be seen in it before he closed it. "I'm sorry, Ran," he managed to say in a hoarse whisper. Guilt started to boil inside him, again. When he had thought he finally had put into heart everything his mother had said for not blaming Ran's death, everything just came back washing him all over again like cold water: the pain, sadness, despair, regret.

"Shout it all out."

His tear-filled eyes immediately opened as the softest voice he had ever heard reach his ears. He turned around and saw Rena looking warmly up at him.

_It… came from her?_

It was already too late when he realized he had let Rena see him crying. _Oh, I'm such a crybaby!_

As if reading his thoughts, Rena continued, "It's alright, Shinichi-niichan. There's no one around here but us. No one can see you here but I and I don't mind whatever you would do. I know it's already giving weight to your heart and it's heavy to carry anywhere. That's why we're here, to let go everything inside you. You can shout as hard as you want. I don't mind if it would be to the point that will make me deaf. Just don't mind me. Just imagine that I'm not here – at all. Just finish all of the unfinished business between you and Ran-neechan."

A seven year talked him through it alright. If this moment was not just too sensitive, he would have laughed at himself for asking comfort and advice from a kid. For Pete's sake! She was just a kid who was just starting with life! How would she know anything?! He definitely ate whatever he had said earlier. After everything she had said, he had come to realize she knew more than what she let on. She was more mature than the kids at her own age.

He had put to heart everything she said since he found himself looking back up at the star shining brightly and proudly – happily even on the dark night sky. Because of what Rena said, he finally realized the weight that he had been bearing all this time was definitely too heavy now – even to him who always faced with different kinds of misfortunes of life every single day. He really had to let go or else the weight would drag him to the depths of the unending hole of despair. He had to end it once and for all just like what he had first decided.

"Aaaaaahhhh!"

He shouted his lungs out. He definitely could not bear all of it anymore. It's like he just suddenly exploded, like a volcano after being silent for a very long time. If one would see the calm and ever-so collected high school detective Kudo Shinichi shouting and going out of control, they would definitely be shocked. It's so unlike him. But as someone who's into love would say: "People can definitely do a lot of things that is unimaginable to others for him to do for the one they love."

"I'm sorry, Ran!" Tears had now flown freely on his face. "It's my entire fault in why you're not here anymore! You were still too young! You should have enjoyed life even more! It should have been me! It should be me who was dead! Not you! You did not deserve this!"

He bowed his head. His shoulders were shaking with rage and his hands were balled to fists. He looked back up at the star. He was not finished yet.

"I'm so angry! I'm so angry of myself and it's so unbearable! I… I… You didn't even get to know and hear from me how I felt for you! You didn't get to feel how special you are! You're one girl that every man would dream! You're beautiful, smart, tough, funny, caring and loving!" He stopped as he felt his heart drumming inside him. Was he nervous? He did not know. What he knew it was always the same feeling he felt whenever he tried to tell Ran his true feelings for her. Was he going to spoil the moment once again and stop whatever he had planned to say?

_No,_ he told himself. He knew everything was already futile since the person he had wanted to tell it was already gone but what could he do? Wherever Ran was at this moment, he knew she was listening. Whatever he had not come and let himself say when she was alive, he would tell it right now.

"Do you understand, Ran?! I love you! I did not understand it at first! But as the years went by, I knew I was already in love with you! I love you, Ran! And how I wish you are still here to tell you all of this personally and let you feel how special you are to me!"

He felt his body crumble to pieces as his knees buckled and dropped on the iron platform. There, he had said it. All of it alright. He did not he could be so mushy after all. That aside, Rena was right, he definitely felt good – better than ever. He felt his heart lighten and he already could breathe freely except that his nose was stuffy from crying. He tried to stop his tears from flowing by rubbing his eyes but they would just not stop, darn it! But all in all, he felt alive once again. He had said everything he had kept within him and carried with him everywhere he went. The weight on his heart was not there anymore. He had shouted it all out and it was all thanks to Rena's idea.

He wiped his tears and his eyes. For some reason, his eyes had finally stopped producing tears and had the guts to turn to the little girl who was standing silently a good distance away from him and had her attention at the other side just to give him his own privacy. She may have heard everything he said but he was thankful for her little action. Those made him feel more secure.

"Rena-chan," he called.

He saw her stirring and immediately turned around to face him. He could feel she was still skeptical in approaching him. He waved her to come and she immediately obliged.

"Do you feel... any better?"

He nodded. "Better than ever."

She brightened up and a huge grin slowly appeared on her young face. "That's great! Now-" She took the cake from the bench and held it out to him. "You're ready to make your wish!"

Silence filled them when he saw himself looking at the small cake. The candle had already melted a quarter. What caught his reaction was the little fire that's dancing on the candle. It caught him thinking.

"What's wrong, Shinichi-niichan?" Rena asked, tilting her head to the side. "You're still not blowing your cake," there was worry in her voice, again.

He smiled. He just couldn't help feeling overwhelmed by Rena-chan's constant worry for everyone around her. She was just simply sweet. "I was just thinking, Rena-chan. You're just like that lit candle."

Her curiosity suddenly aroused. "Why?"

"During the darkest hour of my life, you were there, like a candle to give light. You gave light to my path when I was lost in the darkness." After a long time, he had given his truest and warmest smile to her. "Thank you."

It was obvious that the little girl instantly brightened. "That's the very first true smile you had given me!"

_What? She even knew about that? Is she really a kid?_

"And I'm sorry if I've shouted at you last time."

She shook her head. "Don't mind it anymore. It's in the past; what's important now is the present. I'm just glad you're back to normal, again, Shinichi-niichan."

He gave her another smile and closed his eyes. He paused for a moment, dictating his wish in his mind before he opened them again and finally blew the candle.

"So, so, what did you wish for?"

He couldn't help grinning with the excitement Rena was showing to him. He winked at her and lifted a finger in front of his lips. "It's a secret."

"Aww! Come on! Come on! Tell me! I won't tell anyone!"

He let out a chuckle. "You've heard it too, right? Once you tell your wish to someone, it won't come true."

She gave her a weird look. "You believe in that?"

"And what does that look mean?"

"Well, it's just that you're a detective and you know, I kinda thought detectives don't believe in superstitions."

"I don't."

"So why wouldn't you tell me?"

"It may sound a bit – no really ridiculous but there's no harm if I try too, right? After all, it's kind of a major wish."

Rena was still looking hard at him but she finally relaxed after a few moments of considering Shinichi's explanation and finally gave up as she let out a sigh. "Okay. But you have to promise to tell me when your wish had already come true, okay?"

He nodded. "Of course."

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

"I'm glad all of my hard work paid off." Rena said happily as both of them walked away from the Ferris wheel.

He nodded in agreement. "Yup. And I feel all good because of you."

She grinned at him. He could see she was happy to hear it from him and felt proud of herself.

He smiled back at her and unconsciously looked at his wrist watch. The long hand had just struck the 59. It read 6:59. Only a minute before seven. His eyes widened as an idea hit him. He took Rena's hand and ran. Now it was his turn to drag the little girl.

"W-w-wait, Shinichi-niichan! Slow down!"

"I can't! If we will not hurry up, we won't make it!"

"But where are we going?!"

"You'll know later! Just follow me!"

After a few seconds of running, he and Rena approached the only tiled and elegantly designed round floor of the whole Tropical Land. It was more or less ten diameters wide.

Shinichi dragged them to stand on the small circle at the middle of it. There was a bigger circle drew all the around. He held up his hand to look at his watch, again and he smiled in relief.

Rena looked around. There was nothing here. What was the reason for him to be in such in a hurry, then?

"What are we doing here, Shinichi-niichan?" Rena asked, looking up at him.

He placed a finger on his lips. "Sshh. It's almost time. Five."

Her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Four."

"Shinichi-niichan," she called out, again.

"Three."

He ignored her as he continued on looking at his watch and counting.

"Two."

Rena just scratched her head.

"One."

Shinichi looked up from his watch.

"Zero!"

Rena could not help from jumping and letting out a surprised shout when water immediately exploded around the small circle, trapping them inside. Another snake like waters exploded at the next circle and was higher than the first. And lastly, the water at the outside circle exploded like curtains around them.

Rena could not help but feel so awed by the sight in front or all around her right now. She was standing at the middle of the fountain! Sure, she had seen fountains numerous times but this one was an exception! This was her very first time to stand at the middle of it and it felt so great! The sight was even better than just seeing it outside. Sprinkles of water had hit her every now and then but it did not matter. She would not exchange this amazing sight with anything in the world!

Shinichi saw her eyes twinkling as she looked around and he smiled. He saw her enjoying it and he was glad. This was his way of saying thank you to her for what she did for him but even he knew it still was not enough but this was the only way he could think of right now and he was happy that she seemed to have appreciated it.

"This is my way of saying thank you for what you did."

Rena looked back at him.

"I know this is still not enough. You brought back the life that I thought I had lost. What you did was too much than just a little entertainment that I've introduced to you right now."

She shook her head. "Don't mention it. I did all of that because I wanted to thank you for helping me and saving my life."

"That's nothing. I'm a detective and I'm sure anyone would have done it if they were at my place."

Rena shook her head. "No, they wouldn't. About the first incident with the snatcher, we've passed by a lot of people but all of them just stared, either they were scared or did not care. You were the only one who helped me then."

"Oh," was all he could say.

"And also I did all of that because I care for you, Shinichi-niichan. I don't have a brother and I'm already starting to consider you as one."

He felt his heart soften at what she said. She really was one sweet girl and he felt lucky that she was sent to him because if not, he did not know if he would have moved on.

"Thank you, Rena-chan. I really can't thank you enough. If it's not because of you, I would have still felt miserable. And who knows what have I done with my life? With Ran gone, I have to start all over again. No one could ever replace Ran because she is one unique girl, the only girl that will ever be in my heart. But everything you just did, I know Ran would have done the same. The both of you are very similar but different at the same time and I would never compare the both you. All I can say is I'm happy that you were sent to me. I felt my life complete again because you're here with me. So, thank you."

Rena felt her eyes water and she just hugged him which he immediately returned as the water continued to dance around them, celebrating with them.

_The next file will be delivered soon!_

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for reading everyone! Whew! That was my longest chapter yet! So, I hope the long wait was worth it! But I still apologize for not updating in a while! Hontoni Gomenasai!**

**Now, I'm done with writing Shinichi's dilemma. Whew! That took me long enough! We're finally heading to another pace next chapter and I'm already excited to write it. Does anyone here already have a hint? *wink wink***

**Please review! I want to know your feedbacks! I don't mind if it is positive or negative as long as it would be good for my writing.**

'**Til next time!**

**January 21, 2013**


	8. File 8

**Everyone has waited long enough so I'll just leave all my explanations for not updating a long while after the chapter. However, before we proceed, I would like to thank everyone who has been patient with me and especially the reviews! I appreciate them a lot! **

**Happy reading everyone!**

**FILE 8**

"I'm open! I'm open! Pass it here!"

Kudo Shinichi stopped the ball with his chest when it was passed to him and continued on the offense. It was their Physical Education class and today they were having soccer – the detective's favorite sport. It had been long since he had formally played it with a team. He had been playing it by himself with the accompaniment of a wall latwly. So, he was enjoying himself. He had missed this.

Shinichi stopped as he was blocked by two large lads who were on their defensive poses and were trying to steal the ball. He was not troubled at all. Instead, he let out a smirk. He kicked the ball in the air and they just gaped in amazement as it flew over their heads. He just easily passed the both of them and received the ball as it precisely landed in front of him and continued his attack. As he was nearing the goal, more and more players tried to intercept him but he just passed them without any difficulty at all. As soon as he found his opportunity, he kicked the ball towards the goal. It was a strong kick since the goalkeeper did not even had the chance to flinch as it passed him with a humbling speed and hit the net and a whistle was heard.

He threw his arms up in the air and laughed proudly. He made it. After a long time, he had made a goal. Everyone cheered except that it was more of a giggle from the girls/admirers and his teammates ran to him and hugged him as they were shouting in happiness.

In the crowd, Sonoko let out a smile. It's been long since she had last seen Shinichi this happy and she was glad. It's been a month since Ran's death. He seemed to have moved on and she was sure since he was playing soccer, again.

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

PE was their last period and so Shinichi, changed back to his school uniform, was found walking down the hall and was going towards the shoe lockers.

"You've worked hard, Kudo-kun." Three lads said as they passed by him.

"Oh, you too."

"It was a great shot, Shinichi-kun," Sonoko praised as she suddenly appeared beside him.

He visibly flinched, surprised of her sudden appearance beside him. "What do you want, Sonoko?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"So cold. Shouldn't I at least be treated a bit better since I am the best friend of your…" She trailed off since she did not have the nerve to finish. She shifted her gaze at Shinichi but his expression did not change. He seemed not affected at all.

She let out a small smile. "I'm glad that you've finally moved on and back to your usual self. Well, I'm not really glad of the second part since I've always disliked your attitude but if it is overall, it's better."

"Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically.

"Ne, I'm curious. Now that you've moved on, does that mean you've forgotten about Ran?"

"Are you kidding me? Ran is someone I will never forget."

Both of them stopped as Shinichi stopped in front of his locker. "Instead of that, I chose to treasure every memory I shared with her. With that, she continues to live because her memory is alive within me."

"Heh… I've realized you can be sweet, too, Shinichi-kun," Sonoko teased.

Shinichi just chose to ignore her and opened his locker. As soon as he did, fountains of what seemed like envelopes and cards burst out of it and landed in front of his feet. Sonoko whistled in amusement while Shinichi just watched what he regarded as trash in annoyance.

"You sure are very famous with girls. They seem to be increasing every single day."

"Shut up," he shot back.

Sonoko snickered. "Well, good luck with those. I'll be going ahead. Bye!" She concluded the conversation with a wave and walked out.

Shinichi watched her leave with narrowed eyes and shifted his gaze to the pile. He sighed and muttered, "It's such a pain to clean these things every day."

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

"Shinichi-niichan!"

Shinichi stopped just after the school gates as he heard the all too familiar high-pitched voice that called out his name. He turned his head to his right and saw Rena halting beside him. She grinned up at him and he smiled.

"Don't you get tired of waiting for two hours every day?"

She shook her head. "I stroll around and go here a few minutes before your dismissal. Besides, I enjoy hanging out with you. I like Shinichi-niichan a lot!"

He raised his eyebrows in amusement and crouched. "Oh? Why is that?"

"Because you always protect and take care of me. You're like a brother to me."

"Oh," he muttered in relief. _And I thought I would be having trouble with a little girl liking me. I already have enough trouble with the girls at our school. _

"Oh, before we go home, let's eat at the W's. My treat!"

"Huh?" he blinked in confusion.

She snatched something out of her pocket – a coupon and waved it in front her proudly. "I won a coupon at a little competition in our school. She winked. "A free meal for two and it's only valid for today."

His eyes widened in disbelief for a split second before he let out a smile and placed his right hand on his stomach to emphasize what he wanted to say next. "That's good. I'm quite hungry."

"Me, too! Let's go!"

XXXAN ALTERNATE REALITYXXX

Both arrived at the fast food chain and they entered it. The chain was packed with customers and for a moment there they doubted if they had a space to eat but it soon dissolved when one particular table for two which was beside the window caught their eyes. On top of it sat a reservation sign and a 'RESERVED FOR TENSHI RENA' was written on it.

"Wow! A table is reserved especially for us!" Rena squealed in delight.

Shinichi's eyes narrowed pleasantly. "Heh heh. That's convenient." He felt a tug on his hand and his eyes shifted to it and realized Rena was pulling him excitedly. He sighed. Kids always do get excited with simple things. So, he just allowed her to guide them to the table. As soon as they sat, someone in a plain blue polo and black pants approached them. There was an uppercase w printed on the upper left corner of his polo so Shinichi assumed he was a waiter in the chain.

"Good afternoon, Sir, Ma'am," he greeted the both of them before he turned to Rena. "And I guess this adorable little girl here is Tenshi Rena-chan?"

"Hai!" she chirped.

The man smiled gleefully. "Congratulations for winning in our little contest."

"Arigatou!"

He held out his hand. "May I take your coupons then so I could get your meal?"

Rena easily snatched them out of her pocket and handed it to the man in front of her. "Here!"

He took it and glanced at it before he turned back to them. "Please wait for a while as I take your meals." And he walked away. After a few minutes, the same man came back with two large burgers, French fries and sodas.

"Enjoy your meal," he bid with a grin. Both of them thanked him and he was about to walk away when he suddenly stumbled. Good thing Shinichi was quick and he immediately stood up and before he had fallen to the ground face first, he caught both of the man's arms. The man sighed in relief.

"Are you alright?" he inquired.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine," he said shakily and Shinichi helped him to steady his footing. "Thanks. It would've been painful if I fell."

"No problem. Be careful next time."

He nodded. "I will. Thanks, again." And he walked away.

Shinichi went back to his seat and both of them said their graces and started digging in.

"Oh, right. I heard from Otousan that Kaito KID will be having a heist at the Tokyo museum tonight." Rena said as she opened the cover of her burger.

"Ah, yes. He's planning to steal the Night Stone," he said as he munched on his burger.

"I did not have any idea who Kaito KID was but Okaasan said he is an international thief and go all over the world to steal gems but he returns them later. Does that even make any sense?"

He just shrugged.

"Anyway," Rena continued. "She said he's a very smart and sly thief and the police always lose to him. But the catch is he doesn't cause harm. It's not his first time here in Japan, right? So, does that mean you've been to his heists?"

"Yeah. Once."

"Okaasan said his heists are very interesting and a lot of people come to watch. It's like he's doing a magic show. I like magic shows and it sounds fun! I want to watch! Some of my classmates are going to watch too! Are you going, too, Shinichi-niichan?"

"I received an invitation from the police asking for my assistance. Though I'm not really interested in thieves and I find them boring, he's an exception. Last time I faced him, I've almost caught him but he still managed to escape. No one had done that to me so, I'm going tonight."

"Then, that means he's really good! Because he had defeated you before!"

Shinichi narrowed his eyes. _Heh. Heh. There's no need for you emphasize it._

"You should catch him this time, 'kay Shinichi-niichan?"

He nodded and grinned. "Of course!" And munched on his French fry. Somehow, he turned his head to the window and watched people and cars passing by while eating his burger and fries.

The traffic light had just turned from green to red and the cars went to a halt and the people had their chance to cross the street. He almost choked on his coke when a pair of high school students, a boy and a girl, of his age who crossed the street caught his attention. Basing on their uniform, they were not from Tokyo.

He had to do a double-take and blinked his eyes to make sure whatever he was seeing was real and not an illusion or another one of his imaginations. They did not look like a couple since they kept their distance but they looked like close friends – very close friends. They were chatting happily but it slowly shifted to bickering. As soon as they reached the sidewalk, they stopped and there they continued their squabble. He felt melancholic. He was reminded of him and Ran. However, that was not what caught his attention. It was their appearance – their faces in particular. The boy, who had his hands crossed on his chest and looked arrogantly at his friend while bickering to her, looked exactly like him. Well, almost. He would have been a total replica of him if it was not for the hair, he would have thought it was him. The girl, on the other hand, who was flailing her arms while arguing at him heatedly, made his heart stop. He slowly reached out his hand in front of him.

"Ran…" he muttered longingly.

"Huh?" Rena heard him and she turned to him. "What did you say…" she trailed off as she saw the look on his face. His attention was fully outside. His eyes were glassy with pain and longing. His lips were quivering which looked like he was controlling himself not to cry. When was the last time she saw him looking like this? Right. It was more than a month ago; on his birthday at the Ferris wheel.

She got curious and shifted her eyes outside through the window. She immediately saw the pair since they were standing near them and were fighting like kids at the middle of the city. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the lad. She looked from him to Shinichi and turned back to him.

_Incredible_, Rena thought. _It's incredible how two people could look so much alike. _Her gaze turned to the young lady and that's when she understood. She felt her heart constrict and looked worriedly at Shinichi. And when she thought the wound has been healed, it was opened again.

"Kaito, when are you gonna stop on supporting Kaitou KID?!" Aoko fumed.

"And what's wrong with that?! Everyone's doing it, too!" Kaito shot back.

"But he's a thief! An international criminal! He's bad! People like those should not be supported!"

"But he's cool and clean! He doesn't harm people and does impossible things! How could he be bad?!"

"Just because he is an illusionist like you, you're supporting him!" She crossed her arms on her chest, turned her head away and muttered, "Such an idiot. BaKaito."

Kaito copied her action and muttered, "Ahoko."

They turned to look at each other again and stuck out their tongues simultaneously and turned their head away once again.

"What's so cool about KID anyway? He's just a show-off and attention-hungry thief," Aoko demeaned.

A vein suddenly popped on Kaito's forehead in annoyance. Unknowingly to Aoko, she had insulted the thief quite directly and he did not like it – even a single bit.

"Oh yeah?" he turned to Aoko. Annoyance was evident on his features. "If KID's not cool, then what do you call your Otousan who is always outwitted and fooled by him?" Kaito shot back, getting even.

Aoko gasped and also turned to Kaito. They were now facing each other and she was glaring at him while Kaito looked satisfied of himself.

"What. Did. You. Just. SAID?!" Aoko said, her voice rising each time she uttered a word. Her eyes were on him, scrutinizing his every being. He felt a chill ran down his spine. If Aoko could, she would have killed him right there. Thankfully, she had her values and they were aligned with morality.

"Oh, Kaito, you are so DEAD!" Since they were at the middle of a city, it was impossible for her to get a hold of a mop so this time, she made use of the only thing she had access on which could be a useful weapon: her satchel. She swung it as hard as she could towards Kaito, aiming for his head since she was so determined to knock him out but he was fast and had ducked into safety, both of his hands on his head, a terrified expression plastered on his features.

"Whoa! Aoko! That's dangerous! Don't you think you're getting too violent for just a simple comment?" he managed to defend himself while he continued to dodge every single assault/swing of Aoko.

"You call that _simple?! _You've just insulted Otousan!"

"You insulted Kaitou KID, too! Why can't I? Besides, it was true!"

"I don't care! You've just got overboard!" She raised her satchel above her head and charged it to smash it on Kaito's head.

He saw that coming and made step back. His hair moved because of the air the satchel produced and he felt a scratch on his nose as it moved pass in front of him. It was a little too close. He surely would have blacked out if he was not fast enough and able to avoid it

"Ha! Missed!" But his boasting did not last long since he lost his balance. Then, what happened next went into slow motion. The traffic lights went from red to green and cars started zooming past each other. He frantically swung both of his hands to return his balance but he was not successful since he slowly stumbled backward. Aoko was too surprised to react so she just stared at him as he crashed on the street. He lifted his head and massaged the back of his head as he expressed pain. He propped up his body with his elbow as he slowly tried to get up. He turned his head to right and his pained expression turned to horror. She saw his expression and she also turned her head to the same direction and her eyes widened as he saw a black Porsche was going fast towards his direction. She wanted to react and get him out of there but her body just would not move.

Everything went back to its normal speed as Shinichi and Rena stood up from their seats. Rena slowly placed both of her hands on her mouth as her widened eyes watered. She was quivering in fear but whatever happened next went black as her eyes were covered by Shinichi's hands and his other arm was wrapped protectively around her. She knew the scene was too sensitive for someone at her age but she did not know if she would be grateful to what Shinichi did since they remained that way for several seconds, both of them unmoving and had her waiting for who knows what. Finally, his hands moved away from her eyes and she had to blink and squint at them to adjust to the light. It was a blur at first but she finally saw the situation in front of her. The activities outside seemed to be in a halt since everyone had their eyes on the lad who was sitting safely on the road and the car was parked a bit too close in front of him. She placed a hand on her chest, where her heart was supposed to be located, and sighed in relief. She could feel her heart beating rapidly. She felt scared at a moment there but was now glad since nothing bad happened.

She smiled in relief. "That was close, right Shinichi-niichan?"

No response. Confused, she turned to him and she saw him still staring outside but this time she could not make out whatever was bothering him. All she saw was his eyes were widened in surprise and disbelief and his mouth was quivering, it looked like it wanted to move, wanted to say or shout something maybe but he did not seem to know what to say.

Kaito just stared at the black Porsche in front of him with terrified eyes. It was only a hair away from him. Good thing it stopped before hitting him so he let out the air he was unknowingly holding. He sure was lucky.

The driver's and the passenger's doors opened simultaneously and two men clad in black climbed out from it. The smaller and chubbier man came from the driver's side while the taller and slender one with long silver hair flowing freely on his back came from the passenger's side. Kaito just stared up at them as they neared him.

"Hey, brat, you're not harmed or anything, right?" the smaller one asked casually, there was not even a hint of worry or concern on his voice. They did not even try to crouch to talk to him properly.

He shook his head.

"If so, you better stand up and get out of our way. You're delaying us," the other one said harshly, his voice deep and metallic. Kaito's eyebrows were furrowed in annoyance as he felt affronted with their unconcern. He turned his attention to the silver haired man and he instantly felt shivers crawling his whole being as he was captured by those cold blue eyes staring at him uncaringly. With just one look, he knew immediately he was one of those people you did not want to mess with.

Scenes that happened a month ago that Shinichi will forever regret came back to him all at once as he watched the all too familiar two men clad in black. He almost forgot how to breathe as he suddenly felt his lungs unwilling to receive air.

_How…? What…? When…? _was all he could comprehend at the moment. He initially thought, no, believed they were dead because of the burned car they found at the park but they were here, alive in their flesh and blood. That just meant…

He quickly held onto the table as his legs suddenly got weak. A lot of force was granted on the table since it shook and the drinks toppled, quickly soaking their meal and covering the table with soda. Some overflowed and sunk to the ground.

Rena's head shifted to the table and gasped at the scene in front of her. She shifted it to Shinichi and she saw him dangerously paling. "Shinichi-niichan! Are you alright?"

But her question went unheard as several thoughts exploded his mind. That just meant… All this time, they were wrong. That he had just let those murderers of Ran wander around Japan freely while Ran and her family were still imprisoned with their impossible hopes of giving justice to her death for the past month.

His heart was straining itself into pumping so fast that he could feel the blood rose to his head as he felt the familiar emotion coming back – rage. The enraged desire to get back to those men and let them rot in prison was all he could feel at the moment.

He saw his replica stood up and cleared the way for them and they walked back to their car. He heard bells ringing alarmingly in his head as he saw them climbing back in their car. He felt a hint of panic. They could not escape! Not again that they were in his reach. If they escape again, he did not know when he would be able to see them again. They had gotten away with their fake death for a month; that just meant they were no amateurs in this field.

In a snap, he was already dashing towards the doors of the chain while leaving poor Rena shouting at him in confusion and concern.

He pushed the glass doors open but he was already too late. The black Porsche just passed by in front him. His cold and hard gaze followed the car and he wanted to run to follow it but it was dashing its way to the long straight road in front of it fast and his instincts told him it was not the wisest idea because sooner or later he would lose them.

"Damn it!" he shouted in frustration. He placed both of his hands in either of his pants pockets and he walked in circles as his mind was running on what to do. He suddenly stopped as he felt something that was never before in his right pocket. He took it out and he saw a plain white card. He just stared at it. It was a blank. What was it doing in his pocket? He did not remember putting it in.

He flipped it at the other side and there he saw writings and a familiar caricature at the lower right corner of the card.

_I'll see you tonight._

_Kaitou KID (caricature)_

_The next file will be delivered soon!_

**Author's Note: **

**Okay, I'm very sorry for the very late update. Reason? School and a major writer's block. I really had no time to write lately. Our professors were like giving us a project extravaganza. Also, I really had to squeeze my brain just to write this chapter. No ideas seem to come out. I know I just said at the previous chapter that I'm excited in writing the next chapters. Well, maybe because it's the result of not writing for a long time and always facing numbers and debit/credit. **

**Once again, I apologize and I hope this chapter was not as dragging as I think it is. Please don't forget to review so I'll know your thoughts! I just love reading them.**

'**Til next time everyone!**

**June 1, 2013**


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